Forever and Ever James
by UndeniablyMe
Summary: James Sirius Potter: Mess around, prankster and a huge tease. All his life he strove to be like his namesakes, his idols. But what happens when he meets the one girl who won't bow to his every whim? Has Mr. Potter finally met his match? ON HOLD.
1. The Little Nudger

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**Full Summery: **James Sirius Potter, son of the famous Harry Potter, as soon as he understood who his namesakes were, made it his life's long goal to be exactly like them. Through years of pranks, teasing, and messing around there could be no doubt that his name was rightfully chosen. And yet, as it always seems to be with Potters, there is problem that for the life of him he couldn't figure out, and it's called _girls_. But, as it always was with Potters, one specific _girl _that life presented him with was somewhat more than he could handle... Has James Sirius Potter finally met his match? Is it completely necessary for all of the Potter men to be reigned in by a woman? Join the next generation on adventures as they find their way through Hogwarts, life, and ultimately, to one another's side forever.

**A/n: **So... I know I should actually be working on my billions of other stories... But I don't wanna, so there. :D Actually, I've hit a road block with one of them and this seems to help me reach past those road blocks, so don't be mad. :D It's helping everyone. Lol.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story. It's actually one of my favorite stories that has formed in my head over time, and I hope you like it just as much as I do! :D Thanks for listening, and enjoy!! :D

-UndeniablyMe ;)

* * *

**Prologue: The Little Nudger**

"Gin," Harry said, hovering as his wife as she sat down carefully in their front living room. "Are you sure you're okay? There isn't anything I can do, anything I can get?"

"Oh, Harry," Ginny said, rolling her eyes and patting his hand. "I'm fine. Honest. Don't fret too much, you'll go gray before you need too."

"I know…" Harry mumbled. "But I'm just so worried… What if something goes wrong?"

"Harry, we have Hermione staying in the guest room, who's the best healer that's ever been trained, we have my mother, who can apparate here in an instance if the baby has _any _complications, and the baby has a father who cares more than life for him. Everything will be _fine._"

"Okay, okay," Harry said, nodding feverishly. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Don't pass out on me yet," Ginny teased, giving a deep sigh and smoothing her robes over her large stomach. "You've faced the darkest wizard of all times. Surely a little baby doesn't frighten _the _Harry Potter."

Harry grinned.

"When you say it like that it sounds so brave," he said, rolling his eyes now. Ginny became serious.

"It was Harry," she said softly, and Harry looked up. "You made this world a better place for generations _everywhere, _you saved _countless _numbers of lives… And…" At this point she took his hand and laid it on her stomach where he could feel the baby kicking. "You made the world a safer place for our child."

Harry sighed and kissed his wife softly on the cheek, standing up to go and make breakfast when Ginny groaned and gripped her stomach.

"Gin, are you—"

"I'm fine Harry," she said, smiling back up at him. "This little nudger just likes to give his mother a run for his money, don't you Jamie?"

Harry laughed and put his hand back on her stomach to feel his son kick and move around inside his wife. Eight and a half months ago, she had found out she was pregnant… Harry couldn't wait to be a father.

Inside, Ginny was glowing just about as much as Harry was. This little baby boy she was carrying inside of her, this _beautiful, _wonderful little nudger… He was hers. Now, and for always.

"Are you sure you're okay with the name?" Harry asked, looking up at her. "I mean… It is after my father… And Sirius…"

Ginny's amazing brown eyes met his own emerald ones and she smiled again, giving a little breathless laugh as the little baby inside of her gave another kick.

"I'm sure, sweetheart," she answered, rubbing her stomach. "Believe me, I'm sure. And, judging by the marathon he's running inside of me, he couldn't be anything else _but _a James Sirius."

Harry smiled again, something he did a lot around his wife and his child she was carrying.

"What would I do without you Gin?" he asked, running his hand through his hair. Ginny's brown eyes sparkled.

"You'd wear mismatching socks, hero," she said, laughing at his one bright neon green sock and black sock on the other foot. "Who dressed you this morning?"

"I did," he said, sticking his tongue quite childishly out at her. "And I'm proud of it."

"Just go fry my eggs hero," she said, tossing a pillow at him from on the couch with a flick of her wand. "I'm hungry."

"Do you want sardines on it again?" he questioned her teasingly and she made a face.

"No thank you sir, I think the cravings are over." She smiled beatifically up at him and he grinned back.

He moved into the kitchen and was just getting ready to turn on the stove, when he heard a loud gasp. The frying pan he had been holding dropped to the ground with a deafening bang and in an instant he was at her side.

"Is everything—" he started, Hermione rushing down the stairs with Ron following her.

Ginny looked up, tears in her eyes as she held her stomach.

"It's time," was all she could muster in that breath, and Hermione grinned and leaped into action.

"Ron, call your mother!" Hermione said, grabbing her medical bag. "Harry, grab Ginny and bring her to the upstairs bedroom."

"'Mione, I don't know if Mum has a fellytone!" Ron said, but Hermione wasn't listening.

"Are you going to be okay?" Harry asked, holding her carefully in his arms and rushing up the steps.

"He's a very active little boy, that's all Harry," Ginny said through her tears. "This one seems like he'll never ever stop running."

Harry smiled at his wife's ability to joke at a time like this, and gripped her hand tightly as he laid her on the bed. She squeezed it back, knowing that he wasn't going anywhere.

"I love you," Harry said. She squeezed tighter.

"I know. I love you too."

&

"Jamie, don't touch that!" Ginny's voice rang out as her little two year old son ran around the house, holding his mother's wand. "Give Mummy back her wand back Jamie!"

The little messy haired boy with hazel eyes and a little crooked smile giggled and ran faster, brandishing the thin bit of wood like a sword at cushions, curtains, stools, and books, reducing them to shreds and little bits of ashes floating around in the air. Ginny huffed as she tried to keep up with the very active little boy, her stomach ballooning out as she carried the second addition to the Potter family. Being pregnant and chasing after her little two year old was not an easy feat.

"James!" a voice said as it scooped the delighted two year-old up into its arms. "What are you doing with your Mummy's wand?"

"I no haves it!" James answered back, leaning away from his father and holding the wand behind his back. "Kitty tooks it!"

"The kitty took it?" Harry asked, looking down at his son, eyebrow cocked. James nodded and smiled.

Ginny came into the front room, nerves frazzled and a disapproving frown on her face.

"James Sirius," she said, marching up to him. "You very bad boy, where did you put Mummy's wand?"

James smiled again, oh so innocently, and said, "I no haves it Mummy. Daddy haves it!"

His dad looked down at his son and sternly looked at him while the clever little two year old slipped it into his father's pocket.

"James, what have we told you about lying?" he asked his little boy gravely, looking into his son's hazel eyes. James lower lip pouted.

"It's a big baddie," he mumbled back, lowering his eyes away from his father and looking back up shyly from under his eyelashes. "And big no no."

"Right. So I'm going to ask you again, okay?" James nodded and Harry smiled. "James, where is Mummy's wand?"

"Daddy haves it," the little boy insisted, and Ginny's small bit of patience snapped.

"That's it mister," she said, stomping her foot and reaching out for him. "You're going to bed right now."

At the word bed James's eyes watered and he threw himself on the ground, a fully fledged tantrum making its way out of his little body. For such a small thing, he threw big tantrums.

"James, you get off the floor this minute young man!" his mother yelled, trying to be heard over her son, but he kept screaming. "You're not a little baby anymore and—"

"Gin," Harry said, putting his arm on his wife's shoulder. "Maybe—"

"Don't you maybe me, Mr. Potter!" she snapped back. "I've been here at home all day with him and he's been running around all day, yelling for sweets, screaming for this and screaming for that! And that's not to count how he nearly blew up the cat or shredded my curtains and—"

"Gin!!" Harry said putting his hand over her mouth, and pulling out the wand he had found in his pocket. "James was telling the truth."

Ginny stared at her wand and took it from him, glaring.

"You. Deal. With. This," was all she could breathe out, before stomping up to their bedroom and slamming the door. Harry grinned and turned to his little boy who had stopped pounding his fists against the ground and was now asleep on the ground.

"C'mon little guy," he said, lifting him up delicately into his arms. "Bedtime."

&

"Dad," James said, looking up at the brilliant scarlet steam engine. "I'm afraid…"

Harry dropped down and enveloped his first born in a hug, conveying all the feelings he had for that little bundle of joy and gripping him tightly.

"It's a little scary at first James, but don't worry. You're going to _love _it there," he said softly in his ear. "I did."

James bit his lip and held his dad a little tighter.

"Promise?" he asked softly.

"Promise," his father answered, giving him an extra tight squeeze. "Now go tell your mother good bye son. I'll see you at Christmas. I love you."

"Love you too Dad," he whispered, hugging him harder.

They broke apart and James smiled hesitantly at his dad and then turned to his mother.

"Bye Mum, I love you," he said, hugging her. Ginny began crying and gripped her son tightly.

"I love you too Jamie," she sniffed into his hair. "Write often. Don't get into trouble. Give Professor Longbottom our love…"

James nodded into her and Ginny held on extra tight, before letting go. James turned to Albus and Lily, who were both pouting.

"This is you in two years little bro," James said, mussing Al's hair. Al slapped his brother's hand away and smiled.

"Miss you James," he answered. James nodded.

Lily was sobbing her eyes out.

"Oh, don't cry Lils," James said, giving her a little hug too. "This is you in three years, and you'll be coming with me!"

Lily nodded before moving back to stand with the rest of the family.

"Bye all!" James said, waving as he got on the train. He watched the whole of his Weasly cousins, siblings, grandparents, aunts and parents wave at him and Teddy put his hand on his shoulder.

James turned to Teddy and wrinkled his nose.

"How come you did that to Victoire when she walked by?" he asked, referring to the whistle that had escaped Teddy's lips as she walked past. "It's just Victoire."

Teddy laughed, not at all embarrassed by his little cousin's remarks. Teddy's fellow seventh years laughed along with him and James ruffled his hair, grinning.

"In due time, my little god brother," Teddy said wisely. "And you'll understand about all about _girls_."

James wrinkled his nose.

"This is about girls??" he asked, and Teddy laughed again along with his friends.

"C'mon, I'll get you a compartment Jamie," Teddy said, rolling his eyes.

James bristled.

"Teddy!" he said, ears bright pink. "Don't call me that here…"

"Oh, my bad—" Teddy smiled wickedly. "Jamie."

James yelled and tackled his seventeen year old cousin to the ground, both laughing hysterically as it was done. Teddy's friends joined in with the laughter and James, enjoying the attention, laughed harder.

Yes, it appeared that Hogwarts was going to be _just _fine…

* * *

**A/n: **Well... That's the end of that chapter. :D It's so much fun to write James when he's being a butt to his mother, I must say. :D Thanks for reading, and don't hesitate to leave me a review! Ciao all! :D

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	2. Boarding the Train

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **Wow, it's been a while hasn't it? An extremely LONG while ever since I updated anything... Would you believe me if I said I was really sorry? :D

*silence from non-exsistant crowd*

Hey!! :(

Well, I am, and to make up for it, I'm updating a story, so there! Oh, and before I forget, thanks to those who put me on alerts and to BittersweetSummer (my hero, in her own right :D) for all the support, reviews and conversations. This update goes to her, so feel special BS. :D

I'll see you at the bottom!

-UndeniablyMe ;)

* * *

**Chapter One: Boarding the Train**

"Okay Jamie, do you think that you'll be fine sitting here?" Teddy asked, stowing James's trunk in the first empty compartment they could find. "I have to go up front for a heads meeting—"

James snorted.

"Whoever made you Head Boy must've been on _something_," James informed him. Teddy's best friend Seth Perks laughed.

"He has a point there Theodore," Seth teased. "Maybe McGonagall is crazier than Dumbledore was!"

"Ha ha ha, you two are _so _hysterical," Teddy said, punching Seth in the arm. "Don't call me Theodore."

James smiled as the two bickered and Teddy's hair turned a flaming red in annoyance.

"I'll be fine Teddy," he said, rolling his eyes at his cousin. "Lorcan and Lyssander are here too, remember? They'll find me."

"You're not that easy to lose, squirt," Seth observed. It was Teddy who rolled his eyes this time and hit him again.

"Okay. If you need any help come find me, Jamie," Teddy said. "You know… if you need help with the ladies, or finding the toilets—" James threw a chocolate frog that he had in his pocket at him.

"Get outta here Teddy!" he snapped, face bright pink. Teddy laughed and complied, ruffling James's hair, his hair easing back into its customary bright blue.

"Stay out of trouble deary," Seth said, winking. James threw another chocolate frog at Seth, who laughed. "And thanks for the goodies!"

"I'll give you a 'goodie' you'll never forget if you don't stop harassing the little boy," Teddy threatened, rolling his eyes in a very James-like manner. "My baby cousin, remember? Only I'm allowed to tease him."

"I'm not a baby Teddy!!" James snapped back. Teddy laughed and edged to the door.

"Later James. If you don't find Lorcan and Lyssander, come find me."

"Whatever Teddy," James said, slightly miffed. "I can take care of myself. You don't need to baby me."

Teddy winked at James as Victoire went by and Seth whistled.

"Later cuz," Teddy said, his hair turning bright pink. "I have a question I forgot to ask Victoire."

Seth snickered and left with Teddy while James stood there, gagging. He didn't realize how… into girls his older cousin was. Well… Not just girls, Victoire specifically. Maybe he should make a note of that and send word home…?

"James, my man!" a voice called and James looked up, pulled from his reverie by his two best friends.

Lorcan and Lyssander were twins, both with sandy mop-like hair, light brown eyes, and matching grins. Lorcan was dressed sloppily, as was usual, and his hair looked matted, as if he had just rolled out of bed and came. Lyssander, in contrast, looked more put together as his hair was smooth and his shirt wrinkle free, but both smiled in identical excitement at James.

James gave his friends a once over, noticing the bandage on Lyssander's wrist and the slight, disappearing shadow of a black eye on Lorcan's and laughed.

"You two look like you had a fight," he observed, helping them pull in their trunks to his compartment, accidentally dropping the corner of one of the trunks on Lorcan's foot. "Sorry Lor. What happened?"

"He insulted my mum," Lorcan said, pulling his foot free. Lyssander rolled his eyes and pushed his brother, making him topple over one of the trunks that were in the doorway.

"Shut up Lor, you were asking for it!"

"Hey! Don't push me!" Lorcan jumped up and shoved his brother. "Just because you're older—"

"Seven minutes older!" Lyssander said back, dodging out of the way and pushing Lorcan back. "And Mum likes me better."

"Yeah well, Mum—"

"Lor, Ly!!" a voice called delightedly to the two sandy haired twins fighting in the corridor. The twins turned, Lorcan falling again over the trunk still in the doorway, and smiled.

The voice belonged to a girl who laughed at Lorcan, spread out over the trunk and said, "I've missed you guys!" before throwing a huge hug around Lyssander.

"How come Ly gets a hug before me?" Lorcan asked, straightening himself up. "Now that's not fair! C'mon, gives me some love!"

The girl laughed again and hugged Lorcan, who proceeded to squeeze the guts out of her until she giggled.

"Hey, that's more than enough loves, Lor, you're gonna kill her!" Lyssander said, laughing just as merrily, all previous ill feelings towards his brother forgotten.

James, slightly disappointed to be left out on the 'loves' as they called it, looked at the girl now in the middle of his two best friends and cocked an eyebrow at this newcomer.

There was nothing really special about the girl, he decided. She had dark brown hair that almost looked black, as it was still slightly wet from the down pour that had started outside of Kings Cross Station (though on the platform it was perfectly sunny). She had hair that curled in ringlets and waves, reaching halfway down her back and softly tanned skin that barely betrayed the freckles splashed across her nose in an endearing sort of way.

And, he noticed, when she laughed her eyes crinkled up on the sides and shut nearly all the way. She laughed loudly too, in a way that said that she laughed often and didn't care who heard her merriment. He didn't see what was funny though. Lorcan's jokes still sucked, the way they had ever since he'd known him, and Lyssander wasn't being funny.

As he finished his once over he came to a conclusion. She was pretty, he guessed, but at the same time he had seen better as he passed through on the train. Heck, his cousins were probably prettier than she was, though indeed that wasn't fair as they had veela blood on their side to vouch for them…

This girl who he had been evaluating turned to look at him, feeling his eyes on her, and he took a full view of her eyes.

They were a dark rich chocolate brown, lightened at the edges, but slowly darkening as they got to her iris, flawlessly blending. Her eyes, he decided quickly, were her best feature and seemed to complete the rest of her look. She wasn't like any of the other English girls on the train for sure.

"James, this is Elynxia Wolfe," Lorcan said, nodding to the girl, interrupting his thoughts. "Lyn, this is our friend James Potter."

Lyn turned to James and stared at him thoughtfully, before reaching her hand out to shake his.

"James Potter?" she asked, looking him over with some excitement. James Potter, in her mind, was extremely cute. "As in, Harry Potter, the chosen one? Is he you're father or something?"

"Yup, that's him," Lyssander confirmed before James could say anything.

"I've heard that he's quite an excellent auror," Lyn said mildly, anxious to make a good impression. "It must be fun, having a dad who's so famous. Though, I don't think I'd fancy having all those reporters around indefinitely, as they apparently are. You must get tired of it. And you'd be the oldest Potter, wouldn't you?"

James paused, mouth sagging slightly as he stared at her, and didn't take her hand.

"Oh Merlin," he said, not even stopping to think. "You're a talker, aren't you?"

Lyn withdrew her hand, blushing in slight embarrassment. Lorcan and Lyssander, behind her, slapped their hands to their foreheads in embarrassment for their friend. Lyn bit her lip.

"Yeah," she said, trying to shrug it off coolly. "What's it to you?"

"I don't like talkers," James said, blundering on blindly. Lyn's eye's narrowed and her cousins paled. "Especially ones who talk to me about my dad. As if you know something I don't."

"I'm sure I know quite a lot of things you don't know," she answered, flicking her hair over her shoulder. James was falling quickly down the cute scale, all the way to annoying. "And I don't care who your father is."

James bristled, not understanding. In his mind he had been nothing but nice to this girl. Why in the world would she be so rude?

"Well you should," he snapped back peevishly. "He only saved the whole of the wizarding world."

Lyn raised an eyebrow, all previous interest in James evaporating. James just seemed like another pompous prat, which was not her specialty in dealing with. Whoever and however good his father had been, Lyn didn't care. It didn't give him the right to act like a five year old. And it most certainly didn't give him the right to treat her the way he did. And besides, he wasn't that cute. Not at all.

"Only to have you?" Lyn shot back, liking him less and less. "What a let down."

James sputtered, so used to everyone being complacent and nice to him, and Lyn rolled her eyes to hide the hurt.

"I'll catch up with you later Lor, Ly," Lyn said, nodding to them. "See you."

"Bye Lyn," Lyssander said, sighing deeply.

"See ya," Lorcan said, eyes glinting merrily. She gave them one more hug before disappearing down the corridor, pulling her trunk behind her.

James grimaced after her. "What's her problem?"

Lyssander groaned.

"James, you have _no _tact."

James gave Lyssander a confused look. "Well, duh, Ly. Why in the world would I carry glue around with me?"

Lorcan laughed uproariously and high fived James.

"Okay, that settles it," Lyssander said, shaking his head. "We have officially found someone who is _worse _than Lorcan."

"Nah, not worse!" Lorcan said, grinning wickedly. "I still have some pretty awesome fart jokes. Hey James, listen to this!!"

Lyssander groaned and slumped against his trunk as his brother proceeded to act like an extremely 'mature' eleven year old boy and James laughed until he cried.

Sometimes it was hard being the mature one in the group.

And down the train, Elynxia Wolfe slumped against the wall, fighting back self consciousness and fear, as she tried to gain the courage to open the compartment door and ask to sit.

Sometimes it was hard to be on your own…

* * *

**A/n: **And there's the end of this update. Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed this, how about leaving me a note? Silence is not golden, I wanna know what you're all thinking! Does it suck, vaccum, or is it simply amazing?! Lemme know, and it'll make my day!! :D And, if you want me to update sooner, reviews usually are a good incentive. (That and cookies. :D)

Well, that's all for now! See ya all later... Heh, hopefully. :D

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	3. Sweetie Time

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n:** And I'm back! With an update! I know, I was shock-ed and amaz-ed too! :D I'm so proud of myself. Ha ha. Thanks to all those who put me on story alert and who reviewed. If you like my stuff you should tell your friends, your family, your pet cat and even that lonely emo boy in the back of your math class. (Ha ha. Nothing against emo boys. :D) Lol. Okay, don't mind me, I'm just review grubbing. :) Yeah, I get bored every once in a while and gotta do something to break the monotony.

Yeah, okay, I'm going, I'm going.

Oh, and a special note to the reader _so I was like_: I loved your review. I don't think I got the chance to answer it, but I thought I'd recognize you. Lol. I'm glad that you're reading, because having someone who seems to have the same mind set and knows kind of how James is feeling really adds to it. :D Thanks, and don't forget to review this chapter too!! I love your views on all of it.

Oh, there I go again, review grubbing. Lol. Don't worry, I'm stopping now. :-D See you at the bottom!

-UndeniablyMe ;)

* * *

**Chapter Two: Sweetie Time**

The green countryside flashed by as the train gradually gained speed and started its journey to Hogwarts. Lyn's stomach fluttered inside of her with excitement and nervousness as she stood staring at the compartment door in front of her.

_It's just a door, and those are just people in there, _she thought, trying to calm her pulse. _They're not going to eat you…_

_But what if they're Slytherins?_a little voice asked from inside her head. She grimaced.

_Not all Slytherins are bad, _she argued back, breathing harder than ever. _Look at all of the good that Severus Snape was able to do…_

_But look at all the bad that others did in their time, _the voice said softly.

_I said _shut up, she snapped to herself. _Stop being dumb. You can do this… you can do this…_

She took a deep breath, gripped the compartment sliding door handle tightly until her knuckles turned white, and slid the compartment door open. The door slammed against the frame loudly and Lyn winced, having been hoping for a more graceful entrance, and bit her lip. The group of four girls already inside looked up, slightly startled, and smiled as they saw Lyn.

"Do you mind if I join you guys?" Lyn asked with a shy smile, feeling extremely absurd standing there with her trunk in hand. Half of her recoiled at the thought of them saying no and the other half, more stubborn than the meek half, made her stay put. Where would she go if they said no?

"Of course not," a girl said, jumping up and helping her with her trunk. Together they managed to lug it through the door and up into the rack above. Lyn sat down gratefully and the girl extended her hand. "I'm Wren Zyer."

"Lyn Wolfe," she replied, shaking it, preferring not to use her full name. Wren smiled, her dark curtains of black hair spilling over her shoulder.

Another girl, this one with strawberry blonde hair, extended her hand, warmly smiling at her as if they were already best friends.

"Berkley Macmillan," she said, smiling. "You have lovely hair."

Lyn fingered her hair, slightly frizzy from the downpour that had started outside King Cross Station and smiled.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "So do you."

Berkley smiled.

"Vistoria Greengrass," a girl with nearly white blonde hair said with a smile, shaking her hand too. Her light green eyes sparked with excitement and she seemed friendly enough... "Call me Tori."

Lyn smiled.

"Tori," she said, committing it to memory.

"Nastia Krum," another girl said, shyer than all the rest, nodding her head at Lyn. Her voice was lower and thick with a beautifully acquired Bulgarian accent. She had dark hair, but not nearly as dark as Wren's, and beautiful dark eyes. Lyn brightened immediately.

"Is your father Viktor Krum, the famous Quidditch player?" Lyn asked. "I absolutely love Quidditch."

Nastia brightened too and seemed to become more comfortable with the whole proceedings, sitting up proudly.

"Yes, that's him," she said proudly, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Dad hasn't played for a professional team in years though. Not after he settled down with Mum that is."

Lyn laughed. It had been silly to be afraid to ask to have to sit. They weren't scary at all. Heck, even that James Potter boy had been more scary than all of these girls.

"We're all first years here," Wren said, by way of starting a new conversation as the first one lagged. "What houses are you hoping to be sorted into? I'm all for Gryffindor."

"Dad was in Hufflepuff," Berkley said immediately. "And Mum was too. I guess Hufflepuff wouldn't be too bad to be sorted into, given my family. My older brother Armond was sorted there too. Though, it would be a chore to put up with him constantly."

Vistoria grinned. "My family goes to Ravenclaw, usually. But a few in the family have gone to other places…"

"What about you Lyn?" Wren asked, directing the question at her. Lyn bit her lip, knowing exactly where she wanted to go, but not sure if she was willing to jinx it.

"Houses?" Nastia asked as she strained at her memory. Lyn, grateful for the intercede, turned her attention on the foreign girl. "Oh, I remember. Mum was a Ravenclaw. They did not have houses at Durmstrang."

"No houses at all?" Lyn pressed. "Weird… Why didn't you go to Durmstrang?"

"Mum did not want me to," she said simply. "Her wish was for me to go to Hogwarts, and so Dad sent me here. I had to ride a muggle plane! It was the most frightening experience of my life!!"

Lyn and Wren laughed, extremely familiar with the absurdities of muggle life, while the other girls looked on in confusion.

"What's a plane?" Berkley asked, confused, tipping her head to the side. "Is it dangerous?"

"It's like a tin can with wings, but you can sit in it," Nastia explained, eating up the attention with great vigor. "It goes up in the air and flies around and the whole time you feel as if at any moment it could crash and die!!"

Vistoria and Berkley looked terrified and Wren and Lyn laughed harder.

"Oh Nastia," Wren said through her laughter. "It isn't that bad! I've ridden a plane before."

Nastia looked surprised. "You have?"

"Yeah," Wren said, calming herself down. "How do you think I got here? My parents are muggles and there was no way they could drive me _that _far. I had to ride a plane."

"You're muggle born?" Vistoria asked, looking shocked. "I had no idea."

"Does it make a difference?" Wren asked, slightly confused. Vistoria bit her lip.

"No," she finally admitted, looking down. "It shouldn't…"

&

"James, I swear, if you don't get off of me, I'm gonna— Pfft!!!"

James laughed from where he was sitting on top of Lorcan, his friend's arm twisted behind his back and a sock shoved in his mouth.

"Say it Lorcan, or I'm not getting off!" James said. Lyssander pushed him off of Lorcan.

"Easy on him James, he's breakable," Lyssander said jokingly. His brother scowled at him. "And besides that, he couldn't have said anything could he? He had a dirty sock in his mouth."

"It's not dirty," James objected. "I washed that myself, thank you very much."

Lorcan gagged and got up from where he was on the ground.

"Yeah, man, I could tell. Good thing Hogwarts has house elves to do all the washing, because quite frankly, your cleaning _sucks_."

James smiled wickedly. "We have a house elf at home too. I call it Mom."

The three boys laughed and Lorcan shoved James, getting ready to go for round two and swearing he'd get his friend back, when the door opened.

"Any sweets from the trolley boys?" the nice witch asked, pushing the cart. Lorcan immediately forgot his vow of vengeance and grinned, pulling out his money.

"One package of sugar quills, one packet of Droobles Best Blowing Gum, four boxes of Bertie Bott's every flavor beans, some acid pops, Honeydukes Chocolate, ten chocolate frogs…" he trailed off and looked behind him at his brother and James. "Oy! Did you two want anything?"

Lyssander looked indignantly at his brother and James laughed.

"Is it possible to buy the whole cart?" James asked, and the lady smiled.

"For fifty-seven galleons," the witch said, smiling at his supposed joke. James thought it over for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, okay." He pulled out the money and gave it to the surprised looking witch. "Fifty-seven galleons it is."

&

"Where's that darn food trolley?" Wren asked, leaning back against her seat. "I'm absolutely _starved._"

"Me too!" Berkley voiced, sighing dramatically. "Oh where, oh where could that little trolley be? Oh where, oh where can it be?"

Lyn laughed.

"Come on, Wren, Berkley," she said with a giggle. "We'll go _find _the trolley. If she won't come to us, we'll just have to go to her!"

"Amen!" Wren said brightly, leaping up. "We'll be back in a nano-second!"

The three girls left hurriedly, Wren speeding ahead of all of them. The dark haired girl was down the corridor before you could say, "Merlin's pants that girl can run!"

Lyn was grateful for the speed that Wren exhibited because she didn't hear Vistoria's backbiting comment that was in answer to Nastia Krum saying, "What's a nano-second?"

"It must be a muggleborn thing," the blonde girl said, flipping her hair over her shoulder as the compartment door shut. "They are quite strange you know."

&

"I can't believe you bought the _entire _trolley James!" Lyssander said, staring at the mountain of sweets in front of him. "Are you mad?!"

"No." James shoveled more sweets into his mouth in a dignified way; two hands at a time while Lorcan simply inhaled all of his sweets, forgetting to breathe at some parts and nearly choking twice.

_Well… _Lyssander thought hesitantly, watching them in amusement. _I guess if you can't beat them… join them!_

And he did, with greater gusto than James or Lorcan had ever seen.

&

"What do you mean there's no more sweets?"

Lyn laughed as she came upon her friend interrogating the witch who was pushing an empty trolley.

"I mean there are no more," the witch said, shaking her head at the little eleven year-old girl. "Three young men in compartment 25 bought them all."

"Three?" Lyn asked incredulously. "They bought everything?

"Everything," the witch confirmed, shrugging. "I'll have to have Honeydukes send more. I've never had all of the trolley sold out before."

"How long?" Wren asked, sounding desperate, sounding as if she were asking how long she had left to live. Berkley laughed.

"Two hours, if we're lucky," the witch said. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Absolutely fine." Wren stomped away from the witch. Lyn and Berkley exchanged a bemused look before hurrying down the train the opposite way of their compartment after Wren.

"Wren, where in the world are you going?" Berkley called, running after her and nearly knocking a fellow first year on their rear end.

"Compartment 25," she declared, boldly. "I'm going to get me some sweets!"

"Oh Wren, it's just chocolate," Lyn said, shaking her head. "She said she could get more in two hours. That's not too long to wait."

They caught up with their friend right in front of Compartment 25. Wren whirred around to face Lyn, a horrorstruck look on her face.

"How can you say that?" she asked. "I have been dying to try all these wonderful confections that I've been reading about ever since I was introduced to the wizarding world, and you're going to deny me of that?" Lyn's eyebrows raised and Berkley stared at her as if she had grown another limb as she continued, "Oh no, Lynna, you are _not _taking that away from me. This is a _very _serious matter."

"Lynna?" Lyn mouthed to Berkley as Wren threw open the compartment door. Berkley shrugged, just as surprised as Lyn by their friend's act of craziness.

_Please don't let there be seventh years in there! _Lyn thought to herself, as Wren forced her way in. _Please don't let it be—_

Her thought was cut off as she was faced with three _very _familiar faces.

"Lorcan Harry Scamander! Lyssander Ronald Scamander!" Lyn thundered, pushing her way in front of Wren. She left off the last name of the messy haired boy also sitting in the compartment, too lost for words.

Her two cousins looked up at the sound of her voice. Lor grinned.

"Heya cuz!" Lor said. "Come to join the party?"

Lyssander wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, embarrassed. Wren didn't give the boys a second look and instead grabbed the nearest pile of candy and started to eat.

"Amazing!" she said as she sampled each one. "Truly, amazing!"

"How could you have bought the _entire _trolley?!" Lyn asked, ignoring her cousins. Her hands on were her hips, staring at the small mountains of sweets all around her cousin's compartment. "Aunty Luna never would have trusted you with that much money."

"No, but James's parents do!" Lorcan said brightly, eagerly joining Wren in eating more of the sweets. James nodded from where he was gorging himself on chocolate frogs in the corner.

"Oh, of course." Lyn's tone was slightly icy and her cheeks, in contrast, flared brightly with color.

James looked up and rolled his eyes at the glaring girl. He still didn't see what he had done wrong, and she was interrupting his sweetie time. Hence, she needed to get lost. Fast.

"Did you need something, or are you just here to talk?" he asked, hardly looking up from his bag of Berttie Botts Every Flavor Beans. "Because if you needed to talk, I'll need to take as much of this as I can and run before I fall asleep."

Lorcan snorted and Lyn shot him a nasty look.

"Prat, you're probably so buzzed on this candy that you won't sleep for days," Lyn snapped back. She turned to her cousins who stared at her in amusement and confusion. "Lor, Ly, whenever you get around to ditching him I'll see you around."

Lyn stomped out the door and Berkley followed, dragging a complaining Wren from the compartment.

"Dude," Lorcan said, laughing as soon as she was gone. "I've never seen Lyn hate somebody as fast as she hates you James."

James rolled his eyes and continued to shift through his little bag, popping a bean in, and gagging as he said, "Ew. Vomit." But, he swallowed it anyways.

"She doesn't hate him," Lyssander argued, picking up another chocolate frog. "She just strongly dislikes James, that's all. Can't say I really blame her though, James. You're not exactly that nice to her."

"Sweetie time," was all James would say back. "No one interrupts my sweetie time. And do we have to waste time talking about girls? Seriously, did you _see _the world cup stats that came out last week?"

Lorcan and Lyssander grinned, jumping into debating about their favorite teams, who they thought should go where, and what the best new move was that had come out in that year, all forgetting about their cousin Lyn. It would be quite funny for all three of them when _sweetie _time would turn into just another way of referring to the time spent with the new girl they were sweet on and wasting time talking about girls wouldn't actually be wasting time at all.

* * *

**A/n:** Lol. Okay, can I just say, I absolutely love James's character? He reminds me so much of my brothers and how they bug me that it makes me laugh. :D -sigh- He's so funny.

Okay, that's all for this update. You know, I'd tell you to leave me a review but... oh, there I go again. :D Okay, okay, I'm done. See ya next time around all!

-UndeniablyMe ;)

**P.S.:** Ha ha. I just double checked my sources, and I realized that _so I was like _changed her name to _Hurricane Rachel_, or something like that. Lol. Sorry if I didn't get that right! :D My apologies. You still rock though! :)


	4. Sorting Wars

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **Hey everyone, I'm back with another update! Thanks to all of those people who put me on story alert and what not. It really made my day. Thanks to my faithful reviewers too! :D That totally made my day.

Happy Holidays, and on with the story!! :D

-UndeniablyMe ;)

* * *

**Chapter Three: Sorting Wars**

The rest of the train ride flew by in a whirl and before she knew it, Lyn was standing at the front of the Great Hall in front of everyone and the sorting had begun.

There had been no words to say how seeing the castle from the lake had been. All words had been taken from her at the sight. There had been no feeling in her legs while she had walked through the hall, her eyes on the inky black ceiling dotted with stars that was the Great Hall. A magic ceiling, her mother had told her. Everything at Hogwarts was more magical than anything her mother had ever done at home.

And now, here she was, waiting to be sorted, no words left to describe her feelings and no feeling left in her body. She was absolutely terrified as the little charms teacher stood up and unfurled a long roll of parchment. Her name was on that list somewhere near the bottom. Lyn's stomach flipped.

"Abbot, Hailey!" The charms teacher Flitwick squeaked out. A little blonde girl with pigtails stumbled forward nervously and sat down on the stool.

The hat deliberated for a second before shouting, "Hufflepuff!"

"Allan, Tessa!" A girl with short brown hair and blue eyes walked out, eyes cast firmly downward.

The hat rested on her head for only a second before sending her, and the boy who came after her to Ravenclaw. Chance Boot, the boy following her, winked at Wren before sitting down at the Ravenclaw table. Wren giggled.

"Benson, Dillon!" The smirking, handsome boy from the train walked forward with a saunter and Elynxia gave a little shiver as the hat shouted Slytherin. The table adorned in silver and green burst into cheers. Dillon would be the first Slytherin of the night.

The three following boys, Bewker, Bridger, and Carson all went to Hufflepuff, followed by a girl named Jenna Carter who went to Ravenclaw. Lyn's stomach flipped and turned, wishing that the whole ordeal could go a bit faster so it could be her turn, yet dreading that the moment would come and she'd make a fool of herself.

"You're pale as a sheet!" Wren mumbled in her friend's ear. "Are you okay?"

"No," Lyn whispered back. Wren grabbed her hand and gave it a soft squeeze. Lyn could feel her shaking.

Cengage, Derick became the second Slytherin of the night, followed by Michael Dickson who went to Ravenclaw and Jessica Field who went to Slytherin. Another group of Hufflepuffs, Frampton, Fredrickson and Gentworth, joined the table that honored Helena Hufflepuff and the cheering from them grew louder and louder. Already so many people in Hufflepuff had been called. Hufflepuff house had not had so many first years in a long, long time.

"Where are the Gryffindors?" Lyn asked softly, realizing that every house but the one of scarlet and gold had been called. Wren shrugged in answer to her question and Lyn quivered. Would she be made a Gryffindor? She crossed her fingers and hoped.

"Greengrass, Vistoria!" Flitwick said in his squeaky voice, calling the first of the girls from their little group on the train to the front of the hall to try on the sorting hat.

Vistoria had been standing by Lyn before and the color drained from her face as she heard her name being called.

"You'll be great!" Lyn whispered, giving her what she hoped was an encouraging look. Vistoria gave her a look of sheer terror before slowly making her way up and sitting down on the stool, the sorting hat being placed on her head.

There was a moment of silence. Lyn crossed her fingers for a good house.

"Ravenclaw!" the hat shouted and the house of Rowena Ravenclaw burst into applause for their newest member.

Lyn cheered with the rest.

"Gryffin, Scarlet!" The charms professor called.

Lyn looked around as a very pretty girl with honey gold hair stepped up to the stool and allowed the hat to fall over her eyes. Gryffindor table looked hopefully at the girl. They still hadn't gotten any first years. But if anyone was to be a Gryffindor, surely it was this girl! Even her name and appearance screamed for the scarlet and gold hangings of Gryffindor house. Surely…

"Gryffindor!" the hat called to the Great Hall.

Laughter, sighs of relief, and huge cheers went up as the girl named Scarlet removed the hat from her head and took a bow in front of everyone. Lyn smiled at her brScarlet. Now there was a girl who had Gryffindor written all over her.

"Harold, Gregory!" A slight boy with a bad haircut tripped on his way up to the stool. James Potter laughed loudly, sending the rest of the hall into snickers and laughter. Lyn glared at the messy haired boy as Gregory Harold's cheeks colored.

"What a jerk!" she breathed to Wren. Wren nodded, her teeth chattering in her nervousness.

"He's an interesting character," Berkley said with a nod. From down the line the Headmistress McGonagall shot them a warning look and all three stood at attention, pretending to pay mind to the sorting that was going on.

"Ravenclaw!" the hat called. The cheering started again.

"Hendricks, Randolph!"

"Gryffindor!"

Another cheer went up, though not quite as big as the first one and Lyn smiled as Hendricks joined Scarlet Gryffin at the table. More first years were sorted to Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin while Lyn watched, stomach tightening. Why oh _why _did her name have to be at the bottom of the alphabet?

"Huntsman, Marigold!"

"Ravenclaw!"

_Can't they just skip them and come back later? _Lyn thought to herself. _Is that really too much to ask? _

"Jenkins, Katie!"

"Hufflepuff!"

_Only in the J's? Are you kidding me? _Lyn thought, impatience and nerves getting the best of her. _I'm gonna be a seventh year before they even _get _to me._

"Kelman, Josie!"and "Knix, Ella!" both became Slytherin's. Lyn bit her lip; the butterflies in her stomach were not just fluttering anymore. It was a full blown whirlwind in her stomach now.

"Krum, Nastia!" Lyn saw many people look up at the mention of Nastia's last name and smiled, crossing her fingers again for her friend, holding her breath.

"Gryffindor!" the hat chimed in its high reedy voice. Lyn cheered along with the Gryffindor table.

James Potter pushed Lorcan and he stumbled, earning both of them stern looks from the Headmistress. Lyn roll her eyes and Berkley smiled.

"I think he's a jerk," Lyn offered up helpfully. "Though his dad _is _Harry Potter you know."

"Dad actually knew Harry Potter," Berkley said, looking down the line at James as he and Lorcan shook with suppressed laughter. "Said he was a modest boy who did a lot of rule breaking in his time, but was all for the good of everyone at Hogwarts. Amazing, he was."

"Too bad his son isn't as amazing," observed Lyn, rolling her eyes, forgetting her nervousness for a moment. Berkley looked over, confused. "I met James Potter on the train, right before meeting you guys. Right pain in the—"

"Macmillan, Berkley!"

The two girls who had been standing next to each other jumped and Berkley's back stiffened as she made the short walk to the sorting hat's stool. Hesitantly, Berkley sat down and allowed the hat to fall over her dirty blonde and grabbed the edges nervously.

There was a tense moment of silence, before the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!!"

Lyn cheered wildly for her friend even though she hadn't been sorted yet and Berkley grinned back at her before taking her seat at the table that sported the colors of scarlet and gold. Berkley's family may have been from Hufflepuff, but there was no denying she was a Gryffindor, through and through. That made _four _first years to Slytherin's five. It wasn't a competition, obviously, but from where the Slytherins were sitting they looked pretty smug.

_If only I could wipe that smug look off of their faces, _Lyn thought to herself as "Morrison, William!" became a Hufflepuff. _They give me the _creeps.

But she didn't have to as, "Meyer, Zane!" became the fifth Gryffindor. Lyn smirked, keeping a mental tally in her head. Now Gryffindor and Slytherin were even.

"How can you smile like that?" Wren demanded, shivering in anticipation as 'Nelkie, Francine!' went to Hufflepuff. "It's not natural! Aren't you nervous?"

"Yes," Lyn said, watching Kimberly Nelson go to Slytherin. "But if I think about it too much I'm going to wet myself, and I am _not _going to be known as the girl who peed her pants her first day here."

Wren cracked a hesitant smile but it was wiped off in an instance and Kyle Orrin went to Hufflepuff.

"Another one?" James Potter asked, quite loudly. Lyssander looked like he was about to strangle him. "Merlin, there sure are a lot of Hufflepuffs aren't there? Kind of like rabbits, eh Sander?"

Lyssander groaned and put his hand to his forehead.

"Potter, James!" Flitwick said, turning to look at the eleven year old boy who had kept up the running commentary the whole time. James smiled and walked forward confidently.

Flitwick's eyes widened as he stared at James. Whispers started up in the hall, sounding like a sputtering candle being doused in water and he waved, extracting a few laughs from the crowd.

"In the flesh," James said smugly with a smile. Lyn colored.

"What a git," she breathed to Wren. Wren gave a shaky laugh that sounded more like she was crying.

"Just put the hat on him," McGonagall said irritably, having had to listen to a full narration all during the sorting, courtesy of James Potter.

The hat had barely touched James's head for a second before the hat declared, "Gryffindor!" and James became the sixth Gryffindor sorted that night. Lyn smiled as they again were brought one up with Slytherin, but her smile dropped as the next girl, Alyssa Packman, became a Slytherin, tying things up.

_Trust a Slytherin to do that, _she thought in her head. _They don't give up easily. _

Jared Putman and Emma Rider became Ravenclaws, but Lyn didn't mind so much. Really, she cared most about beating Slytherin. Of course, why exactly, she wasn't sure. All she knew was that when Emmett Rodgers came along, breaking the tie between Gryffindor and Slytherin as he became the seventh Slytherin of the night, she gave a little scowl after his retreating back.

"Reynolds, Illia!"

Lyn looked at the girl and recognized her as the snobby girl who had nearly pushed her into the lake. As she walked up Lyn felt some satisfaction that the girl looked just as nervous as she felt inside. She felt sorry for her, it was true, but that girl had also tripped her on entering the Great Hall. She wasn't sure if it had been on purpose or not, but heaven forbid that this girl be a—

"Gryffindor!" the hat called.

Lyn groaned audibly and Wren gave her a weird look. Now they were tied again with Slytherin, it was true, but if she had to put up with hearing that girl talk for the next seven years she might go jump in the lake.

_Idiot, you don't even know what house _you'll _be in! _she thought to herself. _What if you're in Hufflepuff…? Or Ravenclaw…? Or worse! What if you go to Slytherin?!_

_Shut up, shut up, shut up! _Lyn told herself furiously as "Scamander, Lorcan!" walked up to the stool. Lorcan looked a little less confident that usual, but an encouraging smile from his brother and a thumbs up from James helped him up to the front to where the hat was.

"Gryffindor!" was the verdict, and the scarlet and gold table burst into applause. Lyn smiled widely and cheered for her cousin as Lyssander moved forward as the call of "Scamander, Lyssander!" went up.

_Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor! _Lyn willed inside her head, holding her breath. _C'mon Ly, you can do it!_

The hat deliberated for thirty seconds, the longest yet and Lyn started to feel light headed but didn't let out her breath. It had to be Gryffindor. It just had to be.

"Gryffindor!" the hat said. Lyn nearly passed out with relief as she let her breath go. She had lost count how many Gryffindors had been sorted. They were coming dangerously close to the W's…

_I changed my mind, _Lyn thought to herself, closing her eyes desperately. _I don't want to be sorted anymore. Not in front of everyone! What if I _do _get Hufflepuff, or Slytherin? Goodness knows I'll never be smart enough for Ravenclaw…_

"You're something like a one woman circus you know," Wren observed as Lyn began to hyperventilate along with her. "It's about time you looked scared. I was beginning to think that you had no sense of self preservation."

"If I pass out, you better catch me," Lyn said breathlessly as Carly Tamworth and Leslie Thomas both became Hufflepuffs. The distractions were wearing off and all she _could_ do was concentrate on was not passing out.

As Gerard Watson was being sorted she turned to Wren and asked in a rushed voice, "Do you think it's possible to be so scared stiff that you're no longer scared because you're so numb?"

Wren looked extremely confused, but was spared the chance to answer by the hat's yell of, "Ravenclaw!!"

Lyn's heart stop beating and, before she knew it, the call of, "Wolfe, Elynxia!" went off and the hall was silenced again. Wren gave looked around at the five first years left standing, looking for the stranger with the name _Elynxia_.

"Who are they talking about Lyn?" Wren asked in a very hushed tone. "Elynxia sounds like a _girl _name."

Lyn's shivering became worse as her mouth went dry.

"Wren, Elynxia is _my _full name," she said breathlessly, stepping forward with shaking steps.

All eyes in the hall were on her and it seemed to take a millennium for her to make it to the stool and still years more to sit down. The many staring faces made her cheeks read and she was thankful as the hat dropped down over her eyes, hiding her from the watching crowd.

_Elynxia Wolfe, _a voice said into her ear. _My, my. What an interesting one you are… I see you were keeping a tally of who went to Slytherin and who went to Gryffindor…_

The hat laughed and Lyn shivered.

_Is that weird? _She questioned. The hat sighed.

_I wouldn't use the word weird, my dear. Just… different, _the hat said thoughtfully. _Yes, very different. I haven't seen anyone like you before Elynxia._

_Lyn, _she corrected before blushing. _Er… I mean, sir…_

The hat laughed again, louder this time and she felt her blush turn a deeper shade of scarlet, sure everyone in the hall could hear the hat laughing at her.

_Elynxia is a beautiful name, _the hat said. _I would be honored if someone had named me as such._

_Thank you, _Lyn said, slightly taken aback. _But I still prefer Lyn._

_Yes, Lyn,_ the hat amended, still extremely amused at her correction. _I have no doubt in my mind where you go…_

_Could you tell me? _Lyn asked. The hat's amusement grew and she winced. _Er, you know, before you shout it. I mean, so I can… prepare myself?_

The hat chuckled.

_You, dear girl, belong in—_

"Gryffindor!" the hat called to the hall.

The hat was lifted off her head and the Great Hall exploded into life around her, the cheering reaching an unbelievable level as she stared around her brightly.

_Thanks for the warning, _Lyn thought quickly, just before the hat was pulled off fully. As Flitwick called forward the next student and Lyn made her way to the table of scarlet and gold, she thought she could hear it chuckle.

"Wylin, Lyle!" became a Hufflepuff, "Yaxley, Orpheus," became a Slytherin, "Zantworth, Tre!" became a Ravenclaw and "Zeyer, Wren!" became a…

"Gryffindor!"

Lyn stood up and cheered with the table, running up and hugging Wren tightly as she came to take the seat right next to her.

"I was so worried you wouldn't get in the same House as me!" Lyn said, giving her friend an extra tight squeeze. Wren laughed.

"I was worried that I was going to die waiting for you to be done taking your turn with the sorting hat!" Wren said lightheartedly, fully relaxed now that the ordeal was over. "If I'm going to share a dormitory with you, you better not hog the bathroom like you did the hat!"

Lyn grinned, quieting down as the Headmistress stood up to give her address. Gryffindor had beaten Slytherin in the number of first years gained, and Lyn had been part of that number to help.

_Gryffindor, _she thought to herself, beaming around at her fellow Gryffindors. _Mama would be so proud._

* * *

**A/n: **Okay, out of all of my chapters so far, I've got to say that this is my least favorite one. Funnily enough, it's also the longest. I kinda wanted to nail how hard it'd be to wait so long to know where you belong, so I decided on no shortcuts. Tell me what you guys think. Is it just long and boring, or did I do that well?

Thanks all for reading!

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	5. Of Raspberries and Homesickness

**Forever and Ever... James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **Hey everyone, here I am with yet another update! It's taken me a little bit, I'll admit, but at least I've gotten it out. Thanks one and all to everyone who reviewed and thanks to you who put me on story alert! If you like this please review, you have no idea how happy it makes me! :D And now, on with the story.

-UndeniablyMe ;)

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Four: Of Raspberries and Homesickness**

The feast was something to behold in and of its self. Lyn didn't think that she had ever seen _so much _food in her entire life. Absolutely anything you could think up was there! From roasted chicken to steak, French onion soup to carrot soup, chocolate cakes to vanilla pastries, and every kind of ice cream imaginable. There were breads of all kinds, sauces and gravies to blow one's mind away, and fruits of all shapes, sizes and colors. For a moment all Lyn could do was stare at the towers upon towers of food in amazement. Was it possible for anybody, magical or not, to make all of this food?

"Well, don't just sit there Elynxia," Wren said laughing, dropping a huge spoonful of mashed potatoes onto her friend's plate. "Go on and eat why don't you? There's more than enough food to go around!"

Lyn winced at the use of her full name.

"Don't call me Elynxia, Wren," she said, taking the chicken platter as Wren passed it to her. "I hate that name!"

"But why?" the girl named Scarlet said, looking curious. "I think it's a beautiful name. I've never heard anything like it."

"Yeah, I don't think anyone has," Lyn muttered to herself. The girl however, Scarlet, still looked as if she were waiting for an answer. "I can't explain it. I think my mum was crazy to name me Elynxia."

Scarlet nodded and gave her a nice smile, brushing her golden hair back behind her shoulders as she started to eat.

"Is your mum a witch then?" Wren asked interestedly. "I mean, this seems all so unreal to me right now… Barely three months ago I wouldn't have believed that I'm actually in a place where they teach _magic, _but there's actually witches and wizards older than us! It's wicked."

"Yeah, Mum is a witch," Lyn said, feeling slightly proud that she was able to offer up some information to her friend who seemed almost drowning in all the new information. "She works with my Aunty Luna at the Quibbler. She's a photographer."

"I love the Quibbler!" Berkley said, eyes sparkling. "Those stories make me laugh, and I love the gossip columns. Not a shred of truth in them except the names. It's great!"

"What about the Quibbler?" Lyssander asked, looking up from his conversation with Lorcan and James.

"I was just telling everyone how our mothers work together at the Quibbler," Lyn said, giving a small smile. Lyssander grinned back at her. And then, addressing those three girls that were still listening in interest to her, Lyn said, "This is my cousin Lyssander. His mother is my aunt who works at the Quibbler with my mother. And that's his twin Lorcan."

"I'm the better looking twin," Lorcan added, winking at the girls. Lyssander rolled his eyes.

"He's the _special _twin," he said, grinning. Lyn laughed.

"So you three grew up together?" Berkley asked, looking interested. "It must be a lot easier coming here with people you know."

"Not when they're an embarrassment," Lyn giggled. Lorcan shrugged, allowing that, and Lyssander gave an indignant, "Hey!"

"What Sander, you know it's true," Lyn joked, flicking a little mashed potato at her cousin. He wiped it off and stuck his tongue out at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, trying to act delicate. Lyn laughed and turned back to her other friends.

"So your mum is a photographer for the Quibbler?" Scarlet asked, interestedly as they all started on a second course. "Is she any good? I haven't seen the Quibbler before."

"She's amazing!" Lyn said proudly, thinking back to her mother. "Mum and I live in muggle London together in a little flat, but our little building has a raspberry garden out back and on sunny days we would go out there and she'd take pictures… It was great."

Lyn's stomach started to turn as she thought of her mother and Scarlet sent her a compassionate look.

"You love your mother a lot," she observed. Lyn looked up and gave a small smile.

"She's my best friend," she said softly. "And I miss her a lot."

Scarlet nodded and Wren, sensing that Lyn didn't want to talk about her mother any longer, moved the conversation onto the next thing.

&

The journey up to the Gryffindor Common room was made interesting by the fact that James Potter ended up getting lost halfway through the feast and showing up with the slightly annoyed head boy as he dragged him back to his group.

"And stay there James! You're mum will kill me if you get in trouble on your first night here," the head boy told him, extremely irritated. James grinned.

"Thanks Teddy, I owe you!" he said brightly. Teddy waved his hand impatiently over his shoulder and left and James grinned again.

Lyn rolled her eyes. What a prick.

Up in the girls dormitory, Lyn felt almost all the anxiety fall from her shoulders as she saw the little woven basket sitting on the bed that she assumed was hers. She moved quickly over to the basket that, upon a closer inspection, was mewing in a sad little way and opened it up.

"What's that you got there Lyn?" Berkley asked, looking over as Lyn cooed consolingly at the little thing she was enticing out of the basket.

"This is Scamper," Lyn said fondly, picking up the kitten as he finally came out of the basket. Scamper purred deeply and Lyn smiled. "My mum's cat just barely had her four weeks ago. She's barely old enough to leave her mother. Isn't that right Scampy?" _Just like me… _

"She's so cute!" Wren said, sighing over the little cat and scratching her behind the ears. Scamper shyly brushed against Wren's hand. "Oh, if only I had a kitty as cute as you! You're so adorable, yes you are!"

"I've seen better. It looks like a mangy little fur ball full of fleas."

Lyn looked up, eyebrows raised at the lone girl standing by the bed closest to the door. Her name was Ilia Reynolds, and that was the first thing she had said to anyone. Scamper looked up, seeming to understand the slight, and gave a little sad meow. Wren scratched her behind the ears consolingly and Scamper purred louder. Lyn and the rest of the girls stared at her and Ilia colored before excusing herself into the bathroom.

"What was that about?" Scarlet asked, raising an eyebrow at the closed bathroom door.

"Maybe she's nervous?" Berkley thought out loud, looking very lost. "I mean, we all kind of know each other from the train and the feast. She doesn't really know anyone…"

Lyn smiled, latching onto this train of thought and running with it.

"I'm sure that's it," Lyn said, plopping a half awake kitten on her bed, stretching and suppressing a yawn. "I bet she'll be better in the morning."

Wren mumbled something incoherent under her breath and gave Scamper another ear scratch before began to change into her pajamas. Lyn gave another small smile and followed suit, trying her best to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut.

"I really hope that none of you are inclined to jinx anyone in their sleep," Scarlet said with a little laugh, braiding her hair quickly on her bed. "Cause I'm going to bed. I'll see you all in the morning!"

"Yeah Scar, because we totally know how to even use a wand," Wren said, rolling her eyes. "Good night goldy locks."

Scarlet made a face at the unattractive nickname and drew her curtains. Wren and Berkley followed suit, jumping into bed and slowly falling asleep. Lyn laid awake in bed for what seemed like hours, Scamper at her feet, unable to fall asleep as easily as her friends had, her thoughts on her mother and wondering if she was feeling as lonely as she was then.

About half an hour after going into the bathroom the girl, Ilia, came out and Lyn saw her wiping her eyes and sniffing. Wondering if Ilia had a mother who too, she was missing, Lyn watched her through the slits in her curtains until Ilia got into her own four-poster bed and eventually her breathing slowed like that of the girls around her.

Lyn, with no one to talk to and nothing to distract her thoughts, pulled out the picture of her and her mother in the raspberry garden, hugging and laughing and chasing each other around.

She felt the tears gathering at the corner of her eyes and tried her hardest to not cry, but with each passing moment the intense feeling of loneliness seemed to envelope her even more than before. She could almost see the garden where her and her mother had spent their summer afternoons, she could almost taste the sweet yet sour tangy juice of the raspberries and she swore that she could smell her mother's perfume; raspberries.

The tears threatened to overflow and Lyn fought them back, but the overwhelming emptiness of her mother's absence was taking over her. She felt pathetic. Here she was, an eleven year old girl, and she was crying because she didn't have her mummy. Instead of halting the tears that made them harder to suppress and Lyn suddenly knew what Wren must feel like, drowning in the newness of the situation and the unfamiliarity of the whole thing. She petted Scamper's fur for comfort and the kitten stretched in its sleep, but it didn't offer as much comfort as she hoped.

There was a soft tap on the window and Lyn looked up, recognizing the sound of an owl with post. She peeked out through a slit in her curtains where moonlight shone through to the window next to her bed and saw her mother's owl Hermia there, a letter clutched in its claws.

Quietly Lyn moved over to the owl and let it in, retrieved the letter from its leg, before watching it fly off. Hermia was a beautiful snowy owl that Lyn had known ever since she was very little, but she had never been friendly to anyone but her mother. Lyn didn't mind though and opened the letter, excited for any news from her mother.

The letter read:

_Hey Elly,_

_So I thought that you may be getting a little homesick right around now, but I don't want you to be sad, okay? I love you and I just wanted to tell you that it's going to be fine__.__ No, better than fine. It's going to be _magical.

_Hogwarts is scary and large at first, and it's hard to be at the bottom of the food chain, but it'll get better. Some of the best times in my life were lived out at Hogwarts, and I know you'll love it just as much as I did. I love you my little Elynxia, and don't worry about me. I'm in good hands with Aunty Luna looking out for me, I promise._

_Love,_

_Mummy_

_P.S. I really hope you're not too old for notes like this from your mother. I love you Elly. That'll never change. Kisses, hugs, and good night!_

Lyn breathed in deeply the scent of the letter. Her mother had sprayed it with her raspberry perfume as a little reminder of home and she sighed. At the end of her bed, Scamper mewed in her sleep.

Despite what her mother had told her about not being sad, Lyn couldn't help it. A few tears dropped down onto the page, one landing on her mother's signature, and she gave a little sniff. Hogwarts was something that she had been looking forward to her whole life. Why was she so scared now?

Because it was real, that's why. She had always dreamt of Hogwarts, but never that it'd be so _big_. She'd always imagined walking down the corridors, laughing with friends, and now here she was, on the threshold of those dreams. Was she willing to take the step forward, leave behind her mother for just a little bit, and learn to fly? Was she willing to leave a few things behind to get to the place she wanted to be at?

As she thought about it, Lyn realized that yes, she had to be. And besides, it wouldn't be for forever. Her mother would always be there… But missing her wasn't something that she could allow to stop her from having the time of her life at Hogwarts.

And so, Lyn kissed the letter and put it under her pillow next to the picture of her and her mother, settled back down into the extremely comfortable blankets, and slowly fell asleep.

* * *

**A/n: **Sad story of the day- I had like the next five chapters of this story written on my other computer and it was saved to my jump drive. I lost the jump drive and with it, at least five other stories. :( Yeah, tragic, but the moral of is save this to your computer and _then _put it on your jump drive. -sigh- Don't worry though, I'll update. It just may take a little longer... :D See you all next update! :D

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	6. First Things First

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **Wowza. Has it really been a month since I updated this story? My bad people. How about I make it up to you by giving you the next chapter? :D See, don't say I don't do anything for you. :D

See you at the bottom… :D

-UndeniablyMe ;)

* * *

**Chapter Five: First Thing's First**

Getting ready in the mornings would become a fully fledged production in the years to come as the girls got older, but that morning as first years none of the girls spent more than ten minutes getting dressed. Lyn pulled on her uniform excitedly, Wren tied up her dark curtains of hair in a ponytail, and they waited patiently for the others while they sluggishly went through the morning routine.

"I hate mornings," Berkley said, rubbing her eyes and pulling her hair into a braid. "Why do they have to come so early?"

"Oh, perk up Berk," Lyn said, rolling her eyes. "We get breakfast and we get to go to first day of classes!"

Berkley mumbled darkly at her friend's over cheeriness and Wren smiled, adjusting her bag and books fretfully, hands shaking.

"You'll be great," Lyn said in a soft undertone to her friend. Wren nodded, but she looked a little green.

"Do you think that someone should get up that Reynolds girl?" Scarlet asked, looking over to the last bed with the curtains still drawn. "I mean, she was kind of a brat, but I wouldn't want to sleep in on my first day…"

Lyn bit her lip. Maybe it _had_ been nerves last night, but Ilia didn't seem like the type of girl who would appreciate being woken up, even if it was for her own benefit.

"I will do it."

Lyn jumped a little and turned to Nastia Krum who had just come out of the bathroom. She had been so absorbed in her own problemsthat she had forgotten that there was another girl who had been sorted into Gryffindor as well; Nastia Krum. She was so quiet that sometimes Lyn forgot she was even there.

"If you're sure," Lyn said, slightly relieved that it wasn't going to be her who had to wake the sleeping dragon. Nastia nodded. "Okay then…"

"If you guys are ready, we can go down to breakfast right now," Scarlet offered, dragging a brush through her hair quickly. "I know the way."

Berkley sighed, her mood still low because of the earliness of the morning, and Wren grinned, despite how green she was still looking.

"Lead the way Scar!" she tried to chirp cheerfully. Scarlet winced.

"Must you call me that?" she sighed, beginning to descend the stairs. Wren and her got into a teasing fight, which seemed to help Wren calm her nerves, and Berkley trudged behind them sighing.

"Did you want us to wait for you?" Lyn asked, turning back to Nastia.

"No, go ahead," she said with a shrug. "I am sure that we will find our way."

"Okay…"

Lyn turned and walked down the stairs, biting her lip. Hogwarts wasn't exactly shaping up to be what she thought it would…

&

Over in the boys dormitory, things weren't going as smoothly. James Potter had used all the hot water ("What do you _mean _the showers ran out of hot water?! James, it's magic, it _can't _run out of hot water!! How long were you in there_?!?!_), Lorcan was still asleep a half hour after Lyssander had tried to get his twin up ("Lor, I'm _serious!_" Lyssander had insisted. "No, _I'm _Sirius!" James had chimed in, only to receive a death glare from the more responsible twin), Lyssander had accidentally ripped Zane Meyer's drapes ("I'm sorry! I'm sorry!") and Randolph Hendricks had a _very _bad candy hang over.

So, more or less, a normal morning for James. But Lyssander, on the other hand, was not used to it being so hectic.

"James, get out of the bathroom, you're worse than a girl!" he barked frantically, rushing around the room. "Lorcan, I swear if you don't get out of that bed I'll set it on _fire_. Randy, pick your butt up, it's not that bad. And _Zane_, just _move_!"

Because none of them wanted to mess with Lyssander, especially whilst he was holding the toilet plunger and looked capable of murdering with it, they all silently did as they were told.

"Merlin, he's worse than my mum," Randy said quietly. Lorcan snuffled in his sleep, used to sleeping through his brother's shouting, and James grinned wickedly.

"LORCAN!"

There was a loud bang, accompanied by a quite girlish shriek and Lorcan yelling, "Alright, alright! I'm _up_!"

&

Wren, down in the common room, looked up at the ceiling just as dust was falling from it. She wrinkled her nose and sneezed.

"Think we should go and see if they're okay?" Berkley asked, hearing another scream that sounded quite feminine. "I mean, just to make sure no one died...?"

Lyn didn't even bat an eyelash.

"No, its fine, this is pretty normal for Lorcan and Lyssander," she said with a shrug. "Do you think we'll have potions first day?"

"I hear the teacher is quite good," Scarlet commented, making her way through the slight crowd with ease. "Auntie Em hired them this summer."

Lyn creased her eyebrows as she thought that over.

"Aunty Em?" she asked. "Who's Aunty Em?"

Scarlet colored slightly.

"That's what I call my Aunt Minerva," she said, her cheeks a little pink. Berkley stopped in her tracks.

"Your Aunt is our headmistress?!" she gasped. Lyn ran into her and Wren ran into both of them, causing them to trip down three stairs before catching themselves.

"Yes," Scarlet said, her cheeks bypassing pink and turning red. "Is that a problem?"

Lyn pushed herself up and smiled.

"I surely hope not. Wren, close your mouth or the flies will get in."

&

"Lorcan, I can't believe you!" Lyssander stormed, shoving his twin. "You turned my hair bright _green _on the first day of classes. When Mum hears about this, you are so dead."

Lorcan rolled his eyes at his twin.

"You really need to stop running to Mummy when everything goes wrong Ly," Lorcan quipped, shoving his twin back and into a group of third years. "And besides, it wasn't even my idea. You can thank James for that one."

Lyssander yanked himself out of the group of third years and turned his murderous glare on James who didn't even bat an eyelash.

"Hey, I just fed him the idea. Lor is the one who actually went through with it," he reminded him coolly. A group of fourth year girls passed and James winked at one of them. "Nice. Older girls…"

"James!" Lyssander grabbed his messy haired friend around the collar and pulled him back to his side. "Merlin, you're not even old enough to be going through puberty and already you have hormones worse than a seventeen year-old boy!"

James blinked and looked at his friend, looking slightly disgusted.

"Ew."

"Yeah, Sander, don't use the p-word around us, okay?" Lorcan said, his ears turning a little pink. "That's not due to happen for a few years."

Lyssander glared.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of!" he huffed, folding his arms. "Honestly, if I have to go through the rest of the year with you two I just might hex myself."

James grinned wickedly.

"Give it a few weeks and you won't _have _to hex yourself," he told him, pushing him down the stairs. "I'll do it for you."

&

"Where in the world are those boys?" Lyn clucked, shaking her head.

Honestly, if Lyssander didn't screw Lorcan's head on right every morning that boy wouldn't know up from down. And, judging by the sounds she heard up in their dorm earlier, neither Lorcan _or _Lyssander would have their heads on straight that morning.

Lyn didn't have to wait long however. Three boys came rolling in, two on top of the other and one trying to break them up—Lyn didn't even have to recognize the sandy haired twins to know it was _them _fighting—and hit the table. Lyn sighed and dropped her shoulders, slouching a little in her seat. First day, and an all out brawl all ready? Figures.

After a moment of waiting, and when she saw that James Potter was doing nothing to break up the friendly brotherly spat, Lyn intervened. Before even McGonagall could come down from the staff table Lyn was up and had one foot on Lorcan's chest and two hands on Lyssander's shoulders. With a might _heave_, Lyn pulled them apart.

"Honestly!" she sighed. "You two are ridiculous. Isn't there a morning when you two can just wake up and be _normal?_"

"He—"

"But—"

"In coming!"

Lyn looked up just in time to get doused in the face with a goblet of water. The brilliant James Sirius Potter, who was becoming less and less brilliant the more Lyn got to know him, had thought to break up the fighting twins by pouring water on them. Except, Lyn had already broken them up, so James poured water all over Lyn.

And, long story short, Lyn was not a happy camper.

"James. Potter."

She glared across the table and wiped her face. Wren bit her lip to conceal a grin and the twins cowered. If looks could kill James would be dead twice over.

"We have—"

"To go!" the twins said, finishing each other's sentence like they did when they were stressed. Each twin grabbed one of James's arms and hauled him out of there, and not even James was stupid enough to make a huge deal about not getting breakfast on his first morning there.

"At least it wasn't oatmeal," Wren offered, trying to be helpful. Lyn just glared.

"C'mon, let's get you cleaned up," Scarlet sighed.

Berkley, who had finally gotten out of her sullen mood, smiled.

"Hey, who ever said mornings were bad?" she asked happily.

"Oh, shut it."

* * *

**A/n: **And… The end! Of the chapter, that is. :D And now, you know what to do! Drop me a note, and I'll be ever so happy, and more inclined to update faster! And I'll try my hardest not to make it a month... See you all next time!

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	7. What Friends Do

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **Hey all, I'm back with an update!! :D And, you know… I've found that, in my authoress notes, I never say exactly what I want to so this time I'm not even bothering to try. :) Alas, but oh well. I go back and look at them and realize that, wow, I sound like an idiot. Ha ha. So, ignore this authoress note and get on with the story!! :D

See you at the bottom… :D

-UndeniablyMe ;)

* * *

**Chapter Six: What Friends Do**

Going to a new school is frightening enough for a young person without out teachers turning desks into pigs, levitating things that should rest firmly on the ground and the heads on the suits of armor turning to watch you make your way down the hall. Of course, all of those things happened at Hogwarts— but luckily enough for those poor terrified first years—there was enough excitement to counteract the frightening things that went on in the school hallways.

And, if you were like Wren, the excitement completely outweighed everything else all the way from common sense to being frightened. For the whole first week Wren was actually scared to close her eyes; but not out of true fear of what was going on around her. Wren was just afraid to someday wake up and be back at her old house, only to have found that it was all a dream.

So, the dark haired girl ran up and down the halls for the first week saying, "Did you see that!?" and "My goodness! Look Lyn, look!! The paintings _scoffed _at me! That's so wicked!!"

And Lyn, in all of her good humor, was putting up with her muggle born friend's enthusiasm for all things magical. Because, after all, that's what friends do. Lyn was exceptionally glad that she had found friends after all, as she had been afraid that she wouldn't outside of her being friends with her cousins.

But, seeing who Lorcan and Lyssander's best friend actually was, she was glad that she didn't hang out with them _all _the time. If Lyn still believed in cooties, she would _so_ dub James Sirius Potter as being the culprit of starting them around the school.

Psh. But cooties were for babies, and Lyn was most definitely _not _a baby. She was eleven, after all. And, as an eleven year old, most _definitely _knew everything that anyone ever needed to know about life. She knew how to read a magical map—extremely handy when navigating around places at Hogwarts--, she knew how to stand up for herself and she knew how to be nice—unlike that Ilia girl. Yes-sir-ee, you could have safely said that Lyn was set for the rest of her life.

Well… At least that's what Lyn thought. Funny how eleven year olds can think that. And Lyn… well, let's just say that she still has a lot to learn; things that, if you told her about now, she wouldn't believe.

And, you know, she wasn't too different from James Potter as she thought.

Now, if there was ever a boy who thought he knew everything, it'd be James Sirius Potter. Heck, if Sirius hadn't been his middle name, arrogance would have been. Though, no one was perfect, and to counteract that arrogant streak of his he had fierce loyalty, passion, and cared about those around him. And, if there was anything that James was fiercely loyal, passionate and cared about most, it was Quidditch.

Which would explain why after the last class on Friday, he and the rest of the boys in Gryffindor house, were out on the vast grounds, throwing a quaffle back and forth and seeing how many times they could peg different girls passing by without either being hexed, sworn at or beat up. It was quite a fun game, except when hitting an unusually cranky sixth year girl, and it passed the time quite amiably, channeling the eleven year olds' energy into more productive outlets, for which all of Hogwarts was grateful.

"Heads up!" Zane called, throwing the quaffle. James turned and caught it, cradling the large red ball in his arms with ease.

It was quite a shame that first years weren't allowed broomsticks, James thought with a sigh. He was anxious to be up in the air flying and practicing on a broom, as it was quite different than all of this running around. It took balance, precision and a lack of self preservation to fly on a thin stick of wood hundreds of feet above the ground.

And James loved it.

But, even though his own father had been the youngest player on the team for a whole century, that didn't apparently, apply to James and he _still _wasn't allowed a broom at school. It wasn't too bad though, admittedly. He always had Teddy's broom to ride anyways for first year… with or without the Head Boy's permission…

"Hey, there's Lyn," Lorcan said, catching the quaffle as James threw it to him and tossing it easily to Lyssander. "C'mon, catch it butter fingers!" he added as the quaffle nearly slipped through Lyssander's outstretched hands.

"Hey, hey!" James said, waving his arms. Lyssander acknowledged his presence and passed it to him somewhat sloppily in comparison with his twin. James caught it effortlessly and winked at the other boys.

"James—" Lyssander warned, but it was too late. The other three boys, already egging James on, were also anticipating James's actions and waiting for him to throw the ball at the coming group of girls.

Lyn was walking with the rest of the Gryffindor girls, minus Ilia and Nastia, talking animatedly with her friend Wren about something or other when James let the quaffle fly. Hearing the ball fly towards them, whistling through the air, Lyn looked up at the last moment and stared, mouth agape at the fast moving throw, before it slammed into her chest and knocked her to the ground. She didn't get up and her friends froze, all caught off guard by the ball, looking down at her in concern.

"Ah man," Lyssander said, looking a bit pale. "James, now you've done it."

"Merlin, she's just a girl Sander," James said, rolling his eyes. "I didn't even throw it that hard. Even _you _could've taken that one."

Even Lorcan, who more often than not went along with James's jokes, looked a little concerned.

"She's not moving," Lorcan added, looking slightly worried. "Maybe we should go see if she's okay…"

"She's fine!" James said with a wave of his hand. "I told you I didn't hit her that hard. See, she's getting up."

Wren helped Lyn stand, questioning her and hovering over her concernedly, but Lyn pushed her away impatiently and picked up the quaffle, her eyes narrowing as she met James's hazel gaze. He could see the traces of what looked like badly suppressed tears and, though he felt a _little _guilty, quickly forced himself to get over it.

"_You_." Lyn spat the word out acidly and the twins flinched, looking worried and hoping she wasn't talking to them in that tone. There was definitely a problem about to start.

Lyn stomped over, holding the quaffle in her shaking hands and looking capable of murdering the messy haired boy in front of her. Lorcan and Lyssander backed up, looking ashamed and a little relieved that she wasn't actually talking to them.

James stood his ground admirably as she thrust the quaffle back into James's arms roughly. "Are. A. Prat."

And then she turned and stomped away with her friends at her side, leaving no time for James to come up with a not-so-witty comeback. But, of course James, who always had to have the last say, grinned.

"Hey Berkley!" He called to the shyer Gryffindor. The blonde haired girl turned back and the rest of the girls stopped for a moment. "Lyssander likes you."

Berkley hesitated for a moment, looking at Lyssander in confusion—who had turned bright red and looked down at the ground before she could meet his eyes—and then left James standing with the rest of the boys, the slightest indication of a blush on her cheeks..

&

"James!" Lyssander said, turning and pouncing on his friend the second the girls were out of sight. "How could you have told Berkley Macmillan that I like her?!"

"Cause you do," James said, struggling against Lyssander and throwing him off. "She's cute I guess, but not very feisty. I like girls with _bite_. Why you so upset?"

Lyssander, practically steaming with anger, shook his head.

"You never know when to just _stop, _do you?" he asked, shaking with rage.

Zane and Randolph, completely uninterested in girls unless you were pegging them with a quaffle, returned to finding unsuspecting victims in the crowds still trickling into the castle, unable to see what the big stir was all about.

"James," he said, shaking his head. "You really can be a prat." And with that, he walked away.

Lorcan, hesitating for a moment to look at James, went after his twin with a sad little sigh. It was clear the fun was over for the day.

James shrugged.

"You'll thank me later."

_After all, _James thought to himself, turning back to Zane and Randolph. _That's what _real _friends do…_

&

Berkley was confused. Lyssander liked her?? Was it true, or was James Potter just pulling her leg like he did with everyone else? But what if he did like her? What if James was telling the truth about Lyssander? He was nice and cute, but why would he like her? What if _she _liked him too? What then…? And why did she feel all fluttery around Lyssander Scamander? Was this normal? Was it unusual? Was she sickening? But most importantly, _why did she have so many questions?!_

Lyn, who after her fit of anger had passed and she'd gotten her scraped elbow fixed up in a second in the Hospital Wing with a wave of the motherly nurse's wand, noticed her friend's silence and sighed. Just by the expression on her face she could tell what was going through her mind.

"You're thinking about what _Potter_ said, aren't you?" she asked.

Berkley blushed, noting the usage of his last name, then nodded. After all, it was Lyn's cousin that James had been referring too.

"Oh Berkley, don't worry about it," Lyn said, waving her hand dismissively, reading the look on her friend's face as one of disgust rather than one of hushed excitement. "Honestly. James Potter is always making stuff up. I bet Lyssander doesn't _really _like you."

"Oh…" Berkley did her best to seem unaffected and she noticed Scarlet's gaze on her, knowing she hadn't fooled _all _of her friends.. "Yeah, that's good. I don't like him either. He's just a nice friend, you know?"

"Which is all we need right now," Wren said with a shrug, sighing deeply. "Goodness, I'm only eleven. Who needs to be worrying about boys at a time like this? Give me magic and tootsie pops and I'm good for the rest of the year."

Lyn stared at her best friend with a mystified glance.

"What are tootsie pops?" she asked, for in all of her experience in the Muggle world she still had no idea what in Merlin's name those were. Wren grinned.

"I'll tell you later," she said, yawning. "Right now, let's get up to dinner. I'm starved."

"I'll meet you there," Lyn said, regretting not having dropped off her bag earlier. "I have to go put my stuff away."

The girls nodded and parted and Lyn made her way up to the dormitories, still steaming over James and how rude he had been, before she heard the quiet sniffling she instantly recognized as crying. And, even more surprising, was that it was coming from the second bed on the right.

Ilia's bed.

"Hello?" she said, shifting around nervously. She took in a deep breath, gathered together her courage, and started again. "Ilia, is that you?"

Silence greeted her question and she knew that it was Ilia behind the curtain. She waited for a moment but, when it was made apparent that the girl would _not _be coming out, Lyn moved towards the bed, Scamper waking up and looking at her with her wide luminescent eyes.

"Ilia…?" Lyn asked hesitantly, breathing in deeply. How could it be that Ilia was just as frightening as anything else she had encountered here at Hogwarts? She didn't know, but kept pressing forward. "Ilia, are you okay?"

Ilia pushed aside her curtains suddenly, making Lyn jump and Scamper arch her back and jump to her mistress's side, looking a little disturbed but mostly sleepy. Lyn stared at Ilia, who stared right back at her, but wasn't surprised to find tears on her face. Ilia had, after all, been the one crying.

Scamper mewed and Ilia looked down to her, the tears looking as if they were going to overflow from her eyes again.

"Do you want to pet her?" Lyn asked quickly, picking up her little fluff ball of a kitten and holding her out to Ilia. The kitty purred and gave a soft mew, blinking her large eyes at Ilia in an inviting way. "She won't hurt you."

As if to prove the point Scamper wiggled in the air towards Ilia and Lyn set her down comfortably in the crying girl's lap.

Ilia stiffened for a moment, surprised at the little kitten's tenacity, before relaxing. The little black fur ball didn't seem to recall the girl ever having insulting her, and allowed her to smooth down her fur. Lyn grinned hesitantly at Ilia who looked away, as if she was ashamed to be found crying. There was a moment of stiffness between the two as Lyn awkwardly sorted out her sympathetic feelings that were warring against her meaner tendencies and Ilia watched her with expectant eyes.

"Is everything okay, Ilia?" Lyn asked, her smile sliding from her face. "You seem really unhappy…"

Ilia fixed her with her blue-green eyes and Lyn was struck suddenly with how pretty she was, even for an eleven year old. She had dirty blonde hair, the brighter parts having been dyed naturally by the sun, and features that belonged on front of _Witch Weekly_. Surely a girl so pretty couldn't be as unhappy as she had so far shown?

But, maybe perfection wasn't all it was cracked up to be…

"Hogwarts isn't at all what I thought it'd be," Ilia said suddenly, looking down at Scamper who purred happily in her lap. "The classes are boring, the teachers are mean, I get lost all the time and no one talks to me."

_Maybe if you were nicer, _Lyn thought to herself, but she squashed the mean thought. Ilia looked up at her sharply, as if daring her to laugh, before looking away. The awkward silence reigned once more and Lyn shivered. What made Ilia so standoffish?

"Mew?" Scamper looked at her with her big green eyes and Lyn laughed, relieved at the break in the tension.

"What is it, Scampy?" she asked, tilting her head at her little fluff ball. The cat mewed again.

"You are of course the prettiest kitty here," Lyn affirmed, scratching under the kitty's chin. Scamper purred and shut her eyes lazily.

"Mew…"

"She is pretty," Ilia said thoughtfully, staring at the cat. "I didn't really notice before."

"Well, first impressions can be a bad thing to base opinions off of," Lyn said, quoting her mother. She gave a small smile to Ilia. "Some of life's best things are things we _come _to love, not start off loving right away."

Ilia stared at her and Lyn blushed, looking down. Maybe she'd said too much.

"Well… I'm going to go down to dinner…" She stood up and moved towards the door.

"Wait!"

Lyn turned back towards the lonely girl, surprised. Ilia stared back at her, an unreadable look on her face before she sighed.

"You were nice to me," Ilia said, dully and with genuine confusion. "Even after I was rude to you about… about your cat." _And behind your back… _She didn't add the last part.

Lyn gave her another hesitant smile. "That's what friends do."

Ilia gave her a watery smile, her mind working fast. Yes, that was exactly what a friend like Elynxia Wolfe would do…

* * *

**A/n: **So... I realize that this is probably very rough and has a few mistakes in it, but going without updating for a few days makes me ancy. I couldn't help updating this story as it's one of MY personal favorites. :) Hope you liked it.

And, I have a special treat for all of you. On my profile are… links (that are hopefully working!! cross your fingers)! :D To pictures of what I thought my characters (both OCs and other characters) look like. I know, I know, so many people have done something so cliché as that, but you know I couldn't resist! Check it out and tell me what ya think of them! Ta-ta for now!

-UndeniablyMe ;)

P.S. And don't forget to review. :D


	8. Examining Truces

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **Long time no see... :) Sorry about that all, but I hope this makes up for it. It's much, much longer than all the other updates and I hope this can tide you guys all over until I get around to updating again... Thanks for the support, the reviews and the awesome favoriting!! Enjoy!

-UndeniablyMe ;)

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Examining Truces**

Gryffindor boys, though they weren't the smartest like Ravenclaw boys or sly like Slytherin boys or even as kind as the Hufflepuff boys, were most definitely in a group of their own. Though, stereotypically, Gryffindor boys were described as more brawny than brainy and to have been in a close running with Slytherin House for breaking rules it didn't hold true for all of the Gryffindor boys.

Above all else, though sometimes prideful, slightly self-righteous and sometimes overly confident, the Gryffindors were brave and _fiercely _protective of one another as well as just a smidgeon of loyal. And that much could be told through the many deep and rooted friendships that were found throughout all of Gryffindor house.

But of course, sometimes, everyone gets a little lost…

It'd been a week and James missed the twins to hang out with. Zane and Randolph were good but, he had to face it. They weren't his best mates. And so, either he spent the rest of the time with Randy and Zane, who were quickly becoming boring, or swallow his pride and make up with the twins. Or he could go be friends with the Ravenclaws…?

It ended up though that James swallowed his pride and just _went _for it. One small step across the common room for humbleness, one giant leap for a huge piece of humble pie. And even for James, a boy who could scarf down quite a lot of pie for such a thin body, that was the hardest piece he'd ever had to swallow.

"Truce?" James asked when he finally gathered his courage to go up to the twins, holding his hand out to Lyssander. _Please don't leave me hanging…_

Lyssander looked down at it before sighing.

"Truce," he agreed, shaking it. Lorcan grinned and pushed his Transfiguration book away. His twin could be a lot of fun, but there was a lot more homework involved when it was just them.

"Excellent," Lorcan said, rubbing his hands together. "James, I have been itching to pull a prank. You with me?"

James grinned.

"Wicked. Of course I am."

Lyssander sighed, but couldn't help smiling. He had to admit, he'd missed the knuckle head.

"Welcome back James. Welcome back."

**&**

Weeks passed in a quick succession, leaving Hogwarts and its inhabitants breathless to how fast time seemed to pass and how much had happened in such a short amount of time. Teddy had taken James out multiple times with brooms and had sharpened his chaser skills so that, in the coming years, the newest Potter would be assured a spot on the Quidditch team. All was well in boy world, all things were working as they should have, and all was happy. Er… well, aside from the usual well mannered pranks and little squabbles; but that was to be expected.

Over in girl world, it was different. _Extremely _different. Lucky for the boys, none of them had to live in the girl portion of the Gryffindor Tower, which if you can believe it or not, was the center for all things dramatic.

With the weeks passing, after she had made the break through with the seemingly shy girl, Lyn had begun to hang out with Ilia and Nastia more and more often and a little less so with Berkley, Scarlet and Wren. Though, at first, it was only a little bit and not as often as would cause concern, it gradually became more and more frequent. And Wren, who happened to be very territorial with her friends, was _not _impressed.

"Just give her a little time," Berkley suggested, knowing exactly what it was that was running through Wren's thoughts. "Lyn is excited that she's found a new friend. She'll bounce back."

Scarlet just nodded her affirmation and Wren sighed, sitting back in her seat. She had waited three weeks already! How much longer was one supposed to wait for the blockhead to get it?

**&**

"And now, when you add the essence of gurdyroot—because of the pasty nature of the plant—your potion thickens and will turn a yellowish-brown color. Be careful not to add too much though. Too much makes this stuff a rough equivalent of what muggles call corn parch."

"Professor Furlough, you mean corn _starch_," a Hufflepuff girl corrected, turning bright pink as the teacher's eyes turned to her. "Er… ma'am."

"Excuse me. Corn _starch_." The teacher fixed her with a deep, penetrating look. Professor Furlough didn't like being corrected.

The little Hufflepuff girl bent over her potion, her face a deep red color. Ilia sniggered at her. Nastia, who by force of habit, stayed completely emotionless and Lyn shifted around uncomfortably, pretending that she hadn't heard Ilia, busying herself with her own cauldron.

"Pass the gurdyroots please," Lyn said, trying to distract Ilia from laughing at the Hufflepuff girl.

Ilia sighed and passed her the root, rolling her eyes.

"Merlin, if I knew about some stupid muggle thing like corn starch and cared enough to even correct a teacher about it…" she said, trailing off, staring pointedly at the Hufflepuff girl. Lyn strained to remember the girl's name. Heather, Hannah…? No, was it Hally?

The girl turned an even brighter red and looked down.

"Ilia, lay off," Lyssander said, speaking up from the table over. Ilia turned to glare at him, her face turning just about as red as the Hufflepuff girl. "It's over, no need to dwell."

And Lyn, slightly ashamed that she hadn't been brave enough to say anything, turned her face away from where she knew Wren was watching, her face feeling hot and her conscience burning with shame. What kind of a Gryffindor did that make her…?

"Eleven inch essay on the properties of gurdyroots," Professor Furlough said, as the bell to signal the end of class sounded. "To be turned in next time. And with the finishing up of the roots section, we'll be reviewing everything you've learned so far in preparation for the end of year exams which is coming up in three weeks. If you are behind, get caught up now while you still can. If not…? Well, I'll see you next year in _remedial _potions."

And with that, she dismissed the class. It must have been in the job description for a potions teacher to be mean because Furlough was downright nasty.

Lyn shivered and quickly packed up her things, hoping to maybe talk to Wren before the next class.

"Lyn, could you help me clean up?" Ilia asked, motioning over to her cauldron. She gave a sheepish smile. "I'm a little behind…"

Lyn balked and then sighed. She'd just have to talk to Wren after.

"Sure Ilia," she said, walking over. "Here…"

Ilia smiled at Lyn and then, behind her back, gave a triumphant smirk to Wren as she waited by the door for Lyn. And Wren, feeling more than a little hurt, pushed her way through the crowd going up and out of the castle to the greenhouses for Herbology. Why was Lyn acting so… _weird_? Why wouldn't she just _talk _to her?

_If she won't talk to me, _Wren thought finally, folding her arms firmly over her books. _Then I'll talk to her…_

And later that night in the common room, while the usual nightly study sessions were going on, that's exactly what she did.

"Hey guys!" Wren said at an attempt of cheeriness, addressing the three girls sitting in the corner. "Is it alright if I study with you guys?"

There was a silence that wasn't reassuring and, just as Lyn was about to nod, Ilia shook her head.

"I don't think so Wren," Ilia said pointedly, just the right amount of sympathy in her voice. "Four's kind of a crowd sometimes... We really wanted to study with just the three of us. You know how that is, right?"

Wren looked embarrassed and a little silly, standing there alone and holding her books, but pushed it away coolly. Lyn's stomach clenched.

"Yeah, I get it," Wren said, brushing it off. "It's fine."

Wren nailed Lyn with a look, as if asking her to say something, and Lyn felt the tight feeling in her stomach get even tighter. A swift look from Ilia let her know what the other girl's feelings would be if Lyn went against her wishes and she sighed.

"Wren, I'm sorry. Maybe next time…?" she asked, trying to sound sincere.

Wren didn't seem impressed and she shook her head disappointedly.

"Yeah, whatever, see you around _Elynxia_." And with that she turned and walked away up the steps. Somehow, Wren using her full name had hurt more than any insult the eleven year old girl could come up with.

Ilia snorted.

"Who's _Elynxia_?" she asked. Lyn colored.

"No idea…" she mumbled, bending her head and trying to push away the sinking feeling in her gut.

_I couldn't be happier, _she tried to tell her self. _Just simply… couldn't be… happier._

And Wren, across the way, was becoming to find out that four really _was _a crowd. So, how come now that the usual troupe of Wren, Scarlet, Berkley and Lyn was down to three did she feel so _empty_?

**&**

"Watch it, you're stepping on my foot!"

"Shut it, someone's going to hear you!"

"I told you this was a bad idea!"

"If you don't—"

"Hey! That's my—"

"Let go of—"

"SHHHHH!!!"

Immediately the three boys went silent and pressed themselves back into the wall, holding their breaths and praying that, whoever came around that wall, it wouldn't be Mr. Filch. The last thing they needed was for some old washed up squib that should've retired _years _ago to come around the corner and get them in trouble.

But, as fate would have it, it ended up being Teddy Lupin who came around the corner, looking a little bleary eyed and yawning hugely. James relaxed for only a second before going ramrod straight as he realized that Victoire was accompanying Teddy, and that Teddy and his cousin Victoire were _holding _hands.

"Oi!" James said, forgetting completely that it was past curfew, that Teddy could get him into a lot of trouble, that Teddy could—and probably would—write back to his mother and that his mother would most likely be _extremely _upset with him. "What are you two doing?!"

Teddy jumped and Victoire, who blushed a deeper red than James even thought was _possible, _sidestepped behind him.

"M-merlin!" Teddy said, pushing his aqua blue hair out of his eyes and looking over into the corner where the three first years were standing, eyes bugging out of their heads. "Oh, James! James, what are you and your friends doing out here so late?! You have exams tomorrow!! Do you _want _me to write your mother?!"

James took a firm stance and stared his cousin Victoire down from behind Teddy. She gave a hesitant grin.

"Hey Jamie," she managed, still as bright as a tomato. She'd inherited the easy blushing trait from her father, it seemed. "How's it going?"

"Well, if _I _have exams tomorrow that means that _Victoire _has exams," he said, folding his arms in front of him and not bothering to address his cousin. "Which means that you're keeping Victoire up too. And, if you write my mum I'll tell her I saw you in out with Victoire right before her exams, which means Uncle Bill will _kill _you when he finds out. And, wait a moment…" James got a look of innocence on his face and said, "Why, Mister Head Boy! Don't you have your N.E.W.T.s tomorrow?"

Teddy sighed and Victoire blanched, no doubt thinking about how many ways her father could think to kill Teddy for keeping her from sleeping the night before her exams. You have to admit, the little boy had them pinned rather well.

"Okay James, you win," he said, shaking his head. "I don't write your mum, you don't breathe a word about me and Victoire out on the night before finals, clear?"

"Crystal," James said, grinning roguishly. "Now me and the twins were just going to the kitchens."

Lyssander and Lorcan both assumed angelic looks on their face and Teddy rolled his eyes.

"Just don't get caught," he said, tugging Victoire after them. "I don't think Filch would let you off as easily as me with blackmail."

Lorcan sniggered.

"You haven't seen the pictures we got of him and the librarian flirting," he said. Lyssander blushed to the tips of his toes and hit his brother.

"Shove it."

James waved as innocently as he could towards Teddy, waiting until they went around the corner, before turning back to the twins.

"Think we can convince the House Elves to give us food this late at night?" Lyssander asked, creeping in the shadows with his two best friends. James smiled again and tripped Lorcan, pressing his hand to his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

"Oh yeah, they're happy to help," James said, as soon as he could manage the feat without bursting into laughter. "They always are. At least, that's what my dad said."

And, upon reaching the kitchen, the boys were not disappointed. All in all, one of the best ways to spend the night before finals.

**&**

Lyn couldn't take not talking to Wren, Scarlet and Berkley anymore. It was driving her absolutely nuts. They all seemed to be avoiding her and it made her sad. What had she done? Was being friends with Ilia meaning that she couldn't be friends with the other three? That wasn't fair; she wanted to be friends with _everyone_! Why was it so difficult?

Between cramming sessions with Ilia and Nastia—in which Ilia usually just passed on the newest piece of gossip and Nastia kept silent—and the stress that came with end of year exams, Lyn was going absolutely crazy. How could she deal with the stress of friends not talking to her and be expected to take a stupid test? It just wasn't fair.

And that's how she found herself slipping away from Ilia to apologize to Wren before the first exams.

"I'm sorry Wren," Lyn said honestly, cornering her at breakfast. "Whatever I did wrong; I'm sorry. I just want to be friendly to Ilia, you know? She's lonely…"

"Gee, wonder why," Wren answered bitingly. "She's a _pill_, Lyn, I don't know why you put up with her."

Lyn blushed. The truth was, Ilia could be a brat a lot of the times, but when Lyn was with her she felt _cool _and popular. Boys stopped to look at her a little more, she always could feel people watching… But Wren wouldn't understand that. She hardly understood anything like that…

"Look, let's not fight. I've missed you too much." Lyn said, holding out her hand. "Truce?"

Wren sighed, but she wanted to be done with the drama just as much as Lyn did. "Truce."

Berkley and Scarlet, who had been watching from a distance, all nodded. And together, they walked down to the potions class to take their first exam of the year. One problem solved, eight exams to go…

_Here we go, _Lyn thought, squeezing her eyes shut tight. _Please don't let me fail…_

**&**

"Boys, get up, you're going to be late!!" Teddy said, poking his head in the boys dormitory. "Breakfast ends in ten minutes and exams begin in twenty!"

And, three very tired and sugared out boys, jumped up and ran around, setting a new record for getting ready.

James felt a little sick, though if it was from nerves or the ten cauldron cakes he'd eaten the day before, he didn't know. All he knew was that his first year was almost done and, with these exams and everything else, he'd be a second year.

_Here we go… _

**A/n: -sigh- **Another chapter out. Thanks to all who reviewed, sorry about any mistakes I didn't catch, and don't forget to review!! :D

-UndeniablyMe ;)

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	9. Just the Beginning

**Forever and Ever... James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **Has it really been a month since I updated? I am so truly sorry everyone and I hope you can forgive me! This chapter is actually one of my favorites so far though and I hope you like it! I've put a lot of time and effort into it and a review would be appreciated!

And, for all those that reviewed, can I just give a big thank you right now? I know, I'm so lousy at replying to every review, but this time I promise if you send me a review you will for sure get a reply back! Thanks again, and now, we're moving on to the story, which is the real reason for why you're here!! :D

See you at the bottom...

-UndeniablyMe ;)

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**Chapter Eight: Just the Beginning**

Lyn couldn't believe it. She stared down at the exam results posted on the bulletin board in the common room—the one charmed so that it appeared blank except for your own exam result so that no one else could see it but yourself—and barely restrained a whoop of excitement. She'd passed _everything, _even that nasty Defense Against the Dark Arts final that she had been so worried about! What a relief!

She turned, exchanged a hug with Wren who was right by her side and equally as pleased with her marks, before turning to go and find her cousins and exchange the happy news with the twins. The only thing that could damper her mood now was that, since the exams were over, so was the school year. Had her first year flown by so fast already? It seemed like just yesterday she was boarding the train to come here and, so suddenly, it was time for her to go home…

Lyn clenched her mother's letter tighter in her hand as she walked up to the owlry with her response, knowing that at the very least Sander would be up there, sending a reply to his mum who had written three days ago about some arrangements over the summer for him and Lorcan. Her mother's words swirled in her mind as she walked and she grinned, happy to know that at least she'd be getting to see her mother soon. Her letters were amazing, though nothing in comparison to her actual presence and as a new wave of homesickness washed over her she looked down at the letter, drinking in her mother's words again.

_Dear Elle,_

_I know it must be a relief that your exams are finally done. I remember quite well all of the late night studying sessions I pulled in my years there. But Ellie, you shouldn't worry too much about the results. I know how you are. You overly worry and stress yourself out over nothing and then pull off amazing grades without much effort on your part at all. You have a gift for this magic stuff, something that your poor mother didn't have, and I know you'll do fine._

_I'm happy to hear that your friendship status with Wren has been resolved. From all of your letters she sounds like a very nice girl—and a good friend, if not a little overexcited and in love with tootsie pops. (To which, I might add, I had never heard of before she so nicely sent a few over. You must thank her for me, they were absolutely delicious!! Muggles and their candy. They must be doing something right!) _

_You girls are all still growing, and your friend Ilia sounds a little lost. Do remember sweetest that you _are _just eleven. It's important to be nice to everyone, as you found out with Ilia, even if they are a little mean or standoffish at first. Sometimes that's the biggest cry of help you'll ever hear. You have a kind and caring heart Elynxia, and I know you'll flourish and bloom in any circumstances with any people who you decide to be friends with. You have things to offer your school and your friends that no one else can, don't forget it._

_And, while we're along the lines of kindness, might I inquire after the whole James Sirius Potter situation? From the way you wrote about him to me this last year dearest you are either in love with him or absolutely loathe everything about him, which funnily enough, can come across the same way. I can't count how many times your letters would come with some new story telling about a prank that 'that James Potter—the absolute prat!!' had pulled on you and your friends. I do remember the Potters quite well—as if anyone could forget them—and recall that they were quite nice people. They are close friends with your Aunt Luna, if you remember, and if I might add that cursing the young Mr. Potter into oblivion as soon as you learn how would not be exactly good. Sweet, for a moment, but bitter after that. Haha._

_I can't wait to have you home in three days, I've missed my Ellie so much and the house has been so much quieter without you, though if that's a bad thing I've yet to decide yet. (Don't make that face Elynxia, you know I'm just kidding.) Truffles misses her little boy Scamper and can't wait for you and him to come home. I'm sure you'll have many more stories, ones that didn't make it into your letters, and that you'll brighten our slightly dull home with all the light that you bring._

_With much love, sincerity, and anxiousness_

_Love,_

_Mummy_

In love with James Potter, indeed. Lyn laughed at the idea and shook her head as she opened the doors to the owlry to find not only Sander but Lorcan and the boy in question all huddled up in there talking in whispers. Lyn gave the three a curious look, smiled slightly to herself as Lorcan quickly hid something behind his back and Sander turned pink, and then moved forward to borrow a school owl.

"Morning boys," she said conversationally, attaching the letter. She expertly avoided making eye contact with James, even though he was more interested in the bird poop on the windowsill then he was in her, and turned to her cousins. "Did you see your exam results?"

"Of course, Sander got us up early just to check them," Lorcan said, rolling his eyes. "We all passed, obviously. Only idiots don't pass first year."

Lyssander glared and hit his brother in the shoulder, who glared and would have retaliated if it weren't for the mysterious object that he was hiding behind his back. Lyn shook her head, knowing better then to question what the glorious threesome was up to so early on the last full day at the castle and walked away from them, too anxious to spend the day with her friends to spend it worrying about what three very dorky eleven year old boys were doing.

Even if two of them just happened to her cousins and the last one the most annoying boy she'd ever met.

In love with James Potter? Indeed.

**&**

"Are you sure we can't get expelled for this?" Lyssander said worriedly, looking down at the love potion that James had had owled in by his uncle that very morning. "I mean, it seems absolutely ridiculous for us to get expelled on the last day of school, and seeing as—"

"You talk too much Sander," James said, rolling his eyes. "No, we can't get expelled for this. It's just a love potion for Madam Pince and Filch and heaven already knows that they've got the hots for one another. Nobody else will think anything's weird about it."

"They will if they start snogging in the library," Lorcan chimed in helpfully. Lyssander turned a delicate shade of green.

"Oh, you two are such ninnies," James said snippily, snatching the bottle away from Lorcan and walking down the stairs away from the owl droppings and rat skeletons. "Do you want to go down in history as ninnies or _Marauders_?"

He turned and glared at them openly, holding the vial of sickly pink potion, and both grinned back at him.

"Marauders," they echoed, saying the name in a reverent sort of way. James's answering grin was almost blinding.

"That's what I thought."

Which is how they ended up, hiding behind a bookshelf and hardly repressing their laughter, whilst a very intoxicate Filch and a very confused and blushing librarian ran around the library—where nearly fifty students were privy to the show, all running and grabbing their friends so that the crowd nearly doubled in size in five minutes—, the first saying, "Come now, just a little kiss!" and the other screaming, "Mr. Filch, I must insist that you leave at once!!" And all of it was rendered even more hysterical as at the time Filch had come around Madam Pince had been helping Headmistress McGonagall with her summer booklist for the advanced Transfiguration classes.

The Headmistress, however, was no fool and her eyes immediately fell on the giggling bookshelf out of which, when shaken with her wand, rolled three very hysterical boys, all laughing and holding their sides to the point where their mirth had turned into tears.

"Boys—" McGonagall started, her lips set into a firm frown. Her call was drowned out by even more hysterical laughter, both from those around observing and the three boys on the ground, as Mr. Filch actually managed to land a kiss on Madam Pince's thin and wrinkly cheek. "I do say, Mr. Filch! Desist! Desist! _Levicorpus!_"

The old squib flipped up in the air, his jacket falling over his head as he spun on the spot, leaving a very embarrassed and pink Madame Pince to run into the restricted section to hide while McGonagall turned her sharp gaze on the three troublesome first years.

"I would give you three all a detention," she said, her thick Scottish accent becoming more prevalent as it always did when she was angry. "But tomorrow you three are all going home and every night I thank Merlin that there is such a thing as summer vacation. Now _scoot_!—before I take any house points away."

The three bolted out of there so fast you would've thought that a blast-ended skrewt was chasing them, which, when Filch was finally set right and figured out what had happened, would be an apt description.

But what they didn't know was that, later that night when she was alone and no one could hear, McGonagall locked herself up in her office and laughed until she cried. Never had there even been a breed of troublemakers such as the Potters. James Sirius Potter was certainly the ringleader, as the original James Potter had been, and it was with slight bitterness that she realized that James Potter would never get to see his grandchild become exactly what he could've been.

And, even more surprising then her fit of hilarity, was that McGonagall was actually looking forward to what James Sirius Potter would become. Because Merlin knew that the world needed a few more James Potters.

She just hoped to Merlin that somewhere along the way James Sirius would find someone like Lily Evans.

**&**

Their last day at school flew by faster than the countryside flying past Lyn's window and, before she knew it, she was back into muggle jeans and a t-shirt and back at Platform 9¾, pushing her trunk on a trolley while Scamper—now a quite handsome and larger cat then he was when he had first left—mewed in his cage. She glanced around anxiously, looking for her mother's large mane of messy black curls while noting that James Potter had been greeted by a lovely woman with shocking red hair and a man with jet black hair and shocking emerald green eyes.

It was funny but, throughout the year, Lyn had forgotten that Harry Potter was James's father. James had never mentioned it once in the whole time that he'd been there, save the one encounter they'd had the first time she'd met him. _In love with James Potter… Indeed. _

"Ellie!" a voice called through the smog. "Ellie, dear, over here!"

"Mama!" Lyn called back, running forward, ditching her trolley for a moment as she made her way to her mother's side. Everything was going to be alright now, even if nothing had ever truly been wrong. She had her mother. It was going to be a good summer.

James watched Lyn run across the platform and throw her arms around her mother, laughing and crying all at the same time, and couldn't help but smile. He hadn't hugged his mother like that _willingly _since he was five. And, with that thought on his mind, he turned and caught his own mother in a huge hug.

"Missed you Mum," he said.

She looked surprised but hugged him back. "Missed you too James."

The Potter family walked through the barrier together, all chatting with and questioning James about his year as his letters had been vague and scrawled quickly. James smiled, his answers vague and tailored just to tick his parents off.

This was only the beginning…

* * *

**A/n: **And with that, their first year is done! Whoo! Only eight chapters and yet its taken me forever to even get this far... :) Haha. I'll do better on my part and I'll keep writing, especially since its now summer where I am and I don't have school! Wish me luck and keep reviewing! Thanks all!

'Till next time... :D

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	10. Enchanting Summer

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **And, here I am with another update! Wow, this has gotta be one of the faster ones I've ever done, don't you think?

A quick note: So I've been re-reading all of the Harry Potter books and watching all the movies which made me realize how far away I was getting from the pure magic of it all!! I'm determined to do better and this chapter is kind of my promise to do just that. If you think I'm doing good or if you have any crticisicm for me, I'd love to hear all of it! So don't forget to review! And, heck, I don't even care if all the review says is, "I read it." Even that makes my day. Haha! Well, enough of my talking, onward!! :D

-UndeniablyMe ;)

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**Chapter Nine: Enchanting Summer**

Lyn lay down lazily in the grass and sighed. It had already been two and a half weeks since she'd last heard from any of her friends at Hogwarts—including, she thought with a wry smile, those troublesome twin cousins of hers. Though it was true, all of her friends would be exceptionally busy, what with Wren Zeyer being in America, Berkley Macmillan vacationing in France, and Scarlet Gryffin who probably hadn't even left Hogwarts yet—due to the time she spent with her Aunt Minerva, the headmistress at Hogwarts, at the beginning of each summer. Lyn didn't even bother to try and kid herself into thinking for even a moment that Ilia would even think about writing. In fact, Ilia had made it very clear that she would be busy that summer to answer any owls.

The curly haired girl snorted and flipped over to her stomach, watching her mother in the very small garden that their apartment building housed. Sometimes she didn't know why she even put up with Ilia Reynolds, but being Ilia's friend did have its perks. And, besides that, Ilia could be nice. When she wanted to be, of course.

But Elynxia Wolfe wasn't interested in pondering why her friend Ilia was the way she was. It was summer and every care that she had previously had in the world was chased away by the mumbling of the easy wind as it blew its way through the extremely small back lot of the apartment that Lyn liked to call a backyard. And so she watched her mother through heavily lidded eyes, fighting off yet another afternoon nap.

Lyla Aphrodite Wolfe was busily checking her raspberry plants and poking her wand at insufferable miniature garden gnomes that were attracted to the sweet smelling berries as they were bathed in summer light. The gnomes would hiss at her as she sent them packing for the hills with a little jolt from her wand, but they'd be back before long. Not one of them could resist stealing even just _one _berry from Aphrodite's Garden, as Lyn affectionately called the little back lot. Stealing one of them was even worth being shocked by a wand.

Lyn smiled her wry little smile again as a gnome hooted in pain and skittered away from the garden, its pudgy hands clamped over his backside where he had just been shocked by the wand.

"It's your own fault," Lyn said told the gnome. "You know better then to be getting into the garden."

The little gnome bared its teeth at Lyn but very soon started running again, not even bothering to clamp its hands over its smarting little backside as Scamper caught sight of him and gave chase.

"Don't hurt him Scamps," she admonished, rolling back over and watching her mother's absentminded smile.

Lyla Wolfe was a very young looking witch, with the same curly hair as her daughter's, the only difference being that Lyla's was a dark jet black color whilst Lyn's was an unmistakable chocolate brown. She had a soft smile, lightly colored eyes, and a milky white complexion that seemed even paler in contrast with her darkly hued hair. She wore muggle clothing, as they did live in muggle London, and her fly away curls were pulled back into a messy bun as it always was when she worked. Lyn often thought of her mother as a prettier more grown-up version of herself and, in some ways, it was true. Lyn was like her mother with her curly hair and facial structure, but in other ways she was different.

Elynxia had deeply tanned skin and dark brown eyes that melted flawlessly into her black pupils. Her mother told her that those two features had come from her father. Indeed, it was the only time her mother had ever mentioned or acknowledged that Lyn even had a father. There were no pictures of him in the house and he was never mentioned. But, on those days when her mother was distant and her eyes were moist, Lyn wondered if her mother missed the man who had been her father very, _very _much.

&

"James, honestly! Its nearly past noon and I really need you to degnome the garden again!"

James rolled over in his bed, muttered something, and continued in his efforts to sleep the day away. Obviously his mother had different ideas for him.

"I'm serious young man. You have got to get out of bed and face the day at some point, don't you?" Ginny Potter said, waving her wand and stripping James of his sheets easily. James grunted.

Mrs. Potter sighed and rolled her eyes, picking up the newly stripped sheets and crossing over to the laundry hamper. She caught a glimpse of herself in the looking glass and paused to look at herself, noting how much time had passed and how much she'd changed.

Ginny Weasley was a _very _different person from the Ginny Potter who was now reflected back at her. The years had been kind to her, as her frame had stayed very thin even after having three kids and not even a gray strand could be spotted amongst her fiery red hair. She smiled at her reflection because, in her mind, she had been worried that someday she'd wake up and be old.

Though, looking at her son's reflection in the mirror, it seemed to have already happened.

She smiled to herself as she thought back to her Quidditch days when she played professionally and shook her head. Those Quidditch drills had been _nothing _in comparison to running after James for all those years. She remembered the long impatient days she'd spent wishing that her little boy would stop running and now, here he was, sleeping the sleep of a deadman in his bed, back only three weeks earlier from his very first year at Hogwarts. Happily though, she acknowledged that his first year had definitely been better then hers had been.

And, for this reason, Ginny allowed a slight reprieve from her normal pestering.

"Five more minutes James," Ginny threatened. "I'll be back to get you up."

James grunted again, his mind thoroughly engaged in the dream he'd been having and Ginny left him to it.

It had been quite a wonderful dream, after all. He'd dreamt that he'd made the Quidditch team and that, in the final seconds before the snitch was caught in the last seconds, he'd scored twice so that even if the Slytherinseeker caught the snitch, they'd be assured a win. His lips curved into a smile as the dream commentator shouted, "Gryffindor wins the Quidditch cup!! Gryffindor wins!!"

The only thing that marred the dream was Jason Fletchly, who even in James's dream world, had managed to follow him back home.

Jason Fletchly was second year Gryffindor who, ever since the start of the year, had made it quite clear about his not so happy feelings for the younger student. Before James had come to school Fletchly had been the most promising new talent for the Gryffindor team in the position of chaser and, as Teddy Lupin—Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor and a chaser—would be the only chaser graduating, only one chaser position would be up for grabs when tryouts came around. And Fletchly, true as a Gryffindor could be, didn't want to lose, but especially not to a student a whole year younger than himself.

This, with Fletchly's temper, put him and James at the polar opposites of the friendship mark.

"I dunno why he hates me," James had said as him and the twins had been sitting in the Great Hall on one of the last days of school. "For all we know there could be a third year or fifth year or something who's better then both of us and then _neither _of us will get on the team."

Truth be told however, the chances were that it wouldn't happen that way. Not only had Gryffindor hit a very dry spell in the talent pool for chasers—("Everyone wants to be a bloody seeker!!" Teddy had declared angrily over dinner at the Potter's house a year ago. "Nobody wants to put the work into being a chaser and relying on two other people!!")—but both Fletchly and James had been riding broomsticks since before they could walk. And both of them wanted nothing more then to be a Gryffindor Chaser.

But, when it came down to it, nothing was more brutal, catty and petty then a fight between two boys who wanted a place on the Quidditch team. And, with catcalls and the reversal of roles—with James having to watch Jason win the Quidditch cup—the pleasant dream soon became a nightmare that he was all too happy to be woken up from by his mother's insisting on degnomeing the garden.

_Lor, Sander!_

_Haven't heard from you guys this summer yet, though I suppose that your family vacation to Romania in search of Crumple Horned Snorkpacks or whatnot should be fun. Write me as soon as you can, I'm going mental here with no one to talk to but Al. I mean, he's good and all, but honestly. I imagine you guys have tried to kill each other already._

_Sorry letter's so short, but Mum is yelling at me to stop procrastinating and get on with my work. I swear, she's worse then you are Sander. Don't curse each other into oblivion._

_Solemnly swearing that I'm up to no good,_

_Stagfoot_

_P.S. I figured out where my dad keeps the Marauder's Map and he says that, this year, he'll let me take the cloak to school as long as I don't tell Mum and I don't get caught. Fellows, I think this next school year is shaping up to be the best yet…_

And, finally sometime after one o'clock in the afternoon, James went out to degnome the garden out back waiting anxiously for the twins' answer and thinking that, maybe after his mother released him, he'd knick his father's broom and go for a ride…

&

Lyn leaned back on the picnic blanket thrown over a shady piece of grass under a huge tree and laughed hard, tears running down her cheeks, as Lorcan and Lyssander—having just gotten back from their trip to Romania—reenacted their encounter in which their father thought that the old innkeeper hadn't spoken a lick of English and therefore compromised with speaking loudly and making swooping hand gestures that eventually caught the innkeeper in the side of the head and knocked him out.

"And then, when the innkeeper came 'round he spouted off some very choice words that proved to us, without a doubt, that he knew English _perfectly _well!" Lorcan said while Lyssander clutched his stomach, doubled over on the ground.

"Aw Lyn, you should've been there!" Lyssander choked through his laughter. "It was ten times funnier in person!"

And Lyn, who could hardly breathe through all the laughter, didn't doubt it even though she had a hard time imagining how something so funny could be even funnier. She had to admit too, she'd missed her two knuckleheaded cousins, no matter how nuts they drove her at Hogwarts.

"So what are you two going to be doing with the remainder of your summer?" she asked. They shrugged.

Lorcan and Lyssander had spent the first five weeks of break in Romania with their parents looking for famous creatures that no one believed in for an editorial in _the_ _Quibbler_ and now there was only six weeks in their holiday left.

"Probably go to James's and stay for a while," Lyssander said, grinning at the look of disdain on Lyn's face.

"Poor bloke's been going mental without us," Lorcan added, settling down on the blanket next to Lyn and helping him to one of the sandwiches that Lyn's mother had packed for them.

"The poor bloke was mental a long time before he met you two," Lyn said.

Lorcan snorted.

"You could come along," Lyssander offered, grinning at the look of horror on her face at the mere mention of tagging along to James Sirius Potter's house.

"No thank you!" she said. "Besides, Wren is back from America and is going to come stay along with Berkley who gets back from France soon. They're coming in two weeks!"

Lyssander suddenly became quite interested in a blade of grass and Lorcan grinned wickedly.

"Shove it!" Lyssander said, advising his twin before Lorcan could even get a word out. Lorcan shrugged and rolled over onto his back, watching the clouds.

"Summer goes fast," he observed. "Seems like just yesterday we were getting off the Hogwarts Express."

"Mmm," Lyn said with a small nod. "Yeah, it does. When you two leaving for the Potter's Estate then?"

"Soon as Mum gives us permission," Lyssander said. "I mean, I love Mum and Dad and all but five weeks in Romania—"

"'Specially with this loser," Lorcan chimed in, earning a dirty look from his twin.

"Is just too much," they said together, shaking their heads. Lyn grinned.

"You guys _are _too much."

&

_James—_

_Dad says that in a week, when we go to your house for your father's annual birthday celebration, if it's okay with your family then we can stay. I can't tell you how happy I am to finally have someone else to talk to besides Lorcan. He's driving me up the wall._

_**I resent that Lyssander. You know you love me.**_

_Anyways, we'll see you in a week. And, I know you don't like her, but bear with us. Our cousin Lyn is staying with us while our mums are abroad doing some story for _the Quibbler_. So, she'll be with us at the party and, but because Mum will be back sometime around then she won't have to stay that long. Believe me, she's even less excited than you are since her mother sprang it on all of us._

_**But deep down inside, we know you're excited for her to be there.**_

_Shove it Lorcan. Anyways, that's all from us! See you in a week!_

_Solemnly swearing to be up to no good,_

_Messrs. Howler and __**Falco**_

_**P.S. You **_**have **_**to borrow your father's map. What does he need with it now he's not at Hogwarts? I'm telling you Stag, this is our chance to go down in history.**_

_**Marauders out! **_

–_**F**_

James grinned and put the letter away. The Marauders lived on, as him and the Scamander twins were now about to prove. And not even the prospect of them having to bring their cousin, that annoying Elynxia Wolfe, could bring him down.

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**A/n:** Thanks for all the reviews! And I promise, replies to everyone who does!!

Until next time... Mischeif managed!

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	11. Party at the Potters'

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **Hmmm... Now, it hasn't been that long since my last update has it? I hope you guys are enjoying the story! I know I love writing it. :)

I'll see you at the bottom!

-UndeniablyMe ;)

**

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**Chapter Ten: Party at the Potters'**

"A party at the Potters?! You're kidding me," Lyn said darkly, folding her arms and staring at her mother angrily. "Mum, you can't be doing this to me. You _know _how I feel about James Sirius Potter! He's an—"

"Arrogant, bullying, pig-headed prat and you can't stand him," Lyla finished, rolling her eyes as she shut her trunk. "Yes, Elle, I know. You haven't stopped talking about him since the moment you walked through the door honey. Have you seen my wand…?"

Lyla Wolfe absentmindedly walked through their little apartment, lifting up couch cushions and checking for all the places that a wand could be hiding.

"It's in your hair," Lyn said, rolling her eyes as her mother reached up and realized that she had indeed stuck it in her bun for safekeeping. "Mum, I don't _always _talk about him. I talk about other things too… Like this. I _refuse _to go to that party. Why can't I just stay here alone? I'm turning twelve in five days. I can manage."

"You're not staying home alone for three days," Lyla said, shrugging and tapping her wand against the door to lock it. "And that's final. You'll be with just Lorcan and Lyssander for the first two days and you'll only have to see James Sirius Potter for three, maybe five, hours tops on the last day." She stopped and turned to her pouting daughter. "Can you do that for Mummy? Please? This is very important to your Auntie Luna and me."

Lyn grimaced, but eventually gave in. But that didn't stop Lyn from complaining. Nothing ever did.

"But I swear, if he—"

"And, might I add, you are to be _completely_ civil with him while you are at his house, you understand me Elynxia Evanthe Wolfe?" Her mother cut across her, looking stern. "I don't want you to be showing him any discourtesy when his family is so nicely allowing you to tag along to their festivities."

Lyn shivered at her mother's use of her full name and nodded. She hated her name. Elynxia Evanthe? Honestly, why were wizarding parents so cruel?

"Well, are we ready?" she asked, slightly grumpy with her mother's use of her full name.

"Yes, we're ready. Take my arm."

And with a small _pop! _they had gone.

&

"James! Albus! Lily!" Ginny Potter's voice echoed across the grass.

"Coming Mum!" they all echoed, James and Albus dropping their branches and running up to the house quickly.

Ginny Potter had been running on quite a short fuse as of late, what with the upcoming festivities that were to be planned for her husband's birthday, and none of the three Potter children wanted to be the one to try her patience.

"James, grab a sponge and help me wash down the tables. We'll be using them to hold the food. Lily, go inside and help Grandma make the food. Al—don't give me that look, you're not in trouble. Go find your father and keep him busy, won't you? I know he only wants to help but everything he's been touching as mysteriously been turning into fake gold, so be careful not to touch him. If my saint of a brother George had anything to do with it, I'll…" she trailed off and looked at her children who stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. Ginny frowned. "Well, what are you waiting for? Off you go!"

And, with that, the three scattered with James grinning. He had a feeling that Uncle George's newest product called the Midas touch—which was a cleverly charmed ring that turned anything the wearer touched into fake gold for at least five hours—had just gotten its first test run.

"Our family is crazy," Lily said, shaking her head and picking up three gold spatulas, five gold eggs and one gold bowl as she made her way to the kitchen to help their grandmother. "Crazy, crazy, crazy!"

"Would you rather we be normal?" James asked, watching in amusement as Albus ran away from their dad, screaming that he didn't want to be turned to gold. "Normal isn't any fun."

Lily grinned. "I think our family is the definition of fun."

James shrugged. "You better run. It looks like Dad is tired of chasing Albus and is coming for you next."

To which Lily screamed as famous Harry Potter ran after her, hand outstretched—declaring that he wasn't going to turn her into gold but simply wanted to give her sweets.

Yeah, James thought mildly. Our family's crazy.

This was an understatement. Not even a fraction of the family had arrived yet.

&

"Aw Lyn, cheer up," Lorcan said, giving his cousin a playful little shove. "You're being over dramatic. It won't be that bad. Sure you and James argue all the time. Sure, he's a jerk to you, but you know you're a brat to him too, so really—"

"Lorcan? Shut up."

"Right, will do."

Lorcan grinned absolutely angelically up at his cousin who was silently fuming as they waited for the twins' father to be ready to go to the party.

And it wasn't just that she and James argued all the time or that he was a jerk—which he most certainly was. No, it was that whenever the chance came up James Sirius Potter never hesitated to make a fool of her. There had been the time when they had her first flying class when he remarked that he could see her underwear when flying below her, the time in Transfiguration when he declared that she needed _remedial _Defense Against the Dark Arts tutoring, the moment when he'd splashed engorgement potion all over her, and those were to only name a few.

She didn't know why, but James targeted her in _all _of his teasing whenever he could. But it wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself, because she could. It was just that that _Potter_ was insufferable and a prat. And spending three hours at his house didn't seem like a fun way to spend a summer night.

But, of course, that's exactly how she ended up at Harry Potter's birthday party with no one to talk to except for her cousins who were surely going to ditch her the second they found Potter. What she would've given to have Wren, Scarlet or Berkley at her side at that moment. Heck, she'd even take Ilia, even though the girl hadn't made contact all summer.

As she predicted, after they flooed to the Potter's house, the first thing that Lorcan and Lyssander did was glue themselves to James's side, leaving Lyn to stand awkwardly next to her Uncle Rolf.

_Two hours, fifty-eight minutes, _she told herself, looking down at her watch. She could last that long, couldn't she?

"Hullo!" a very cheery voice said, catching the young witch off guard and making her jump. "You must be the twins' cousin! Mummy said that you'd be coming."

A very pretty, red headed girl stuck out her hand boldly to the older girl, flicking red curls out of her warm brown eyes and Lyn stared, taken aback.

"Er… yes," Lyn said, taking her hand and shaking it. "I'm Lyn."

The girl, who was maybe three years younger than Lyn, just smiled.

"Want to play a game?" she asked, still shaking Lyn's hand.

"Um… Sure?" Lyn said, seeming stumped. Was it usual for little girls to just walk up to you and ask if you want to play? Lyn wouldn't know. She'd never had a little sister. "I'm sorry but what's your name?"

The little red headed girl gave a laugh. "I'm Lily. Lily Potter."

So this was James's little sister… Lyn gave a breathless little laugh, her nerves mounting. Meeting new people was one of her least favorite things in the world, but the knowledge that James's sister was this little girl put her even more on edge. Was she anything like her brother?

"Nice to meet you Lily," she said, giving her a nice smile. Lily grinned.

"Well, c'mon, we haven't all day to stand around and chat! If we're lucky, Victoire will play too!" The handshake turned into Lily pulling the older girl along behind her out to the lawn where a group of girls were standing, looking impatient.

"What exactly will we be playing?" Lyn asked feeling a little worried. She'd seen Potter's idea of fun and wasn't keen on anything that his little sister might dream up. She dearly hoped that she wasn't into playing dress-up.

Lily's eyes flashed. "Quidditch of course. You know how to ride a broomstick, don't you?"

Lyn colored, wondering if James had made any comment about being able to see her underwear to his little sister.

"Of course I do," she forced herself to say calmly. "Let's get to it then."

And this time, Lyn was in pants instead of that horrible skirt that went under her robes, so Potter wouldn't have _any _reason to tease her for seeing her underwear.

&

"What do you mean the girls are playing Quidditch?" James demanded, looking at Hugo distastefully. His younger cousin shrugged.

"Lily wanted to play," he said. "And I told her that I'd come over here and would ask if you three wanted to join, but she said not to bother. You'd all slow their game down anyways."

James bristled. "We would not."

Hugo rolled his eyes. "That's what Lily said. And they got some new girl playing with them too. I don't know who she is but—"

"That'll be Elynxia," Lorcan said, grinning at Lyssander. "Now who would've thought she'd willingly elect to play Quidditch?"

"Why, is she rubbish at it?" James asked, rolling his eyes. Of course she'd be horrible at it. She was so prissy, pushy and such a brat. She _couldn't _be good at anything as cool as Quidditch.

Lorcan laughed. "She's not rubbish at it, her mother actually played for the Holyhead Harpies at one point. Just before your mother joined the team, actually."

"She's good on a broom, just afraid of heights," Lyssander chipped in, grinning with his brother. "So she doesn't make that good of a seeker."

"A thumping good chaser though," Lorcan added. "And a good beater if you make her angry enough. Remember that time she nearly took of my head with the bat Sander?"

Lyssander laughed. "Or when she put you _and _the quaffle through the hoop?"

James however was unimpressed. There was no way that prissy Elynxia Wolfe was _any _good at Quidditch. And, even if she thought she was, he'd quickly set her in her place. After all, he wasn't going to let Jason Fletchly oust him for a spot on the Gryffindor Team. There would be no _way _that he'd let a _girl _show him how Quidditch was played, let alone the position of chaser.

"Let's go and show them a _real_ game of Quidditch boys," James said, throwing his shoulders back impressively.

Lorcan and Lyssander grinned. Finally the party was starting to get _interesting. _

&

"Hey Lils, the boys are coming this way," Rose, one of Lily's cousin—slightly older then Lily herself but younger than Lyn—, called from where she was situated on her broom somewhat awkwardly. Rose Weasley was a rather good flier but she wasn't a natural.

Lily's brown eyes flashed. "I knew they couldn't resist being told they'd _slow _us down."

Lily was more devious then she looked Lyn observed. She made a note to remember that.

Victoire--who Lyn recognized as a girl a few years ahead of herself in school--clucked from where she was on her broom, doing a lazy loop in the air, her strawberry blonde hair flashing in the light.

"And they even brought Teddy," she mused. Lyn's eyes grazed over the rather eccentric looking boy with shocking yellow hair, remembering him from school. He had just graduated.

"Dominique, you're playing beater, Victoire you're seeker, Rose you're keeper," Lily barked. The other three girl nodded and Lily turned back to Lyn. "You and me are _chasers_."

"Fine by me," she said coolly, trying to hide that she was secretly relieved she wasn't playing seeker. Heights terrified her.

Her heart flipped as she watched James make his way towards where the girls were hovering in the sky. _Just don't look down… Or fly too high…_

James spotted her on her broom, pulling his own out of the shed. He had a cocky smirk on his face just waiting to be knocked off.

_Oh he has it coming to him, _she thought to herself. _Just you wait James Potter… Just you _wait.

Meanwhile, down below, James's thoughts were along exactly the same lines…

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**A/n: **You have no idea how excited I am for the next chapter! It's just about time I thought for a Quidditch match and so, next time that's exactly what you'll get. Leave a review and I'll update faster... :D

Until then, mischeif managed!

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	12. Abandoning Ship

**Forever and Ever…James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **Well, here I am with an update, and it hasn't been that long, has it? :) Haha. Anyways, you know the drill. Read, and I'll add in my comments at the bottom. See you there!

-UndeniablyMe ;)

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**Chapter Eleven: Abandoning Ship**

"We need a referee," Hugo pointed out from where he was standing, glancing up and down the miniature Quidditch Pitch that the Potters had erected in a sheltered field. The girls were already happily spinning around the pitch on their own brooms, laughing loudly and somewhat shirlly. "You know that James doesn't ever play fair."

James grinned and ran his fingers through his hair. "Not true. I play fair _all _the time."

"Yeah, sure, and Lorcan is a saint." Lyssander said, nodding at his brother who pressed his hands together in front of himself innocently. James snorted.

"You'll be referee Hugo," Teddy said, shouldering his broom. His eyes followed Victoire's form around the large field. "We can get Al to be seeker."

"But I want to play!" he said, looking cross. "I was the one who told you guys!"

"You're too young Hugo," James said, condescendingly. Hugo snorted.

"Lily's my age and _she _gets to play," he said. Teddy grinned.

"No offense mate, but Lily is a firecracker," he said with a shrug. "I don't think there's any way that we could keep her _out _of the game, even if we wanted to. Besides, the whole thing kind of was her idea."

Hugo opened his mouth as if to argue before shutting it firmly and scowling. There would be no arguing with Teddy, but he was the one who heard that the girls were playing in the first place. He stalked off to find Albus.

Up in the air, Lily surveyed her cousins and brother thoughtfully.

"There's been a change in the line-up I've decided," she said, whirling her broom around to face them. Her shoulders dipped with the broom smoothly. "Victoire, _you _will be Keeper instead of Rose, because there's no doubt that Teddy will play Chaser. Rose is good, but not good enough to stop Teddy."

The younger girl grinned apologetically up at her cousin and Rose rolled her eyes. Truth be told, Rose looked about just as comfortable up on a broom as Lyn felt, which wasn't saying much.

"Besides, all you have to do is turn on the old veela charm and Teddy Lupin will be _falling _off his broom," Dominique said, sending a grin towards her sister. Victoire's face burned a pale pink as she flicked her hair at her sister, the late afternoon light highlighting the strange strawberry blonde color.

Lyn pulled her broom to a stop, hovering twenty feet off the ground, and stared up at the older girl and asked incredulously, "You're part veela?"

Victoire nodded. "Dominique is too. On our mother's side. Our great-grandmother was a veela."

Lyn gave a low whistle and then grinned. Talk about a dose of girl power…

"As I was saying," Lily said, cutting across the mindless chatter. "Here's our strategy. Victoire, you will be keeper—do everything you can to distract Teddy but don't forget about James. He's a demon on a broomstick. Dom, you're still going to be a beater but make sure to aim the bludger at James as much as you can. Victoire will have Teddy covered."

"_Extremely _covered," Dominique said, grinning at her sister. Victoire dive bombed her sister angrily.

"Focus people!" Lily said, clapping her hands. "Victoire, kill Dominique later, we have a game to win first."

Lyn shivered, trying not to think about the cold hard ground below her. How did she get herself into this? The youngest Potter seemed less and less like the cute little girl of eight that she was and more and more like a war general sending troops into the thick of a battle. With a swooping sensation in her stomach Lyn realized that _she _was the soldier that was going to be sent into the thickest of it all.

"Rose, this puts you on Chaser duty with Lyn," Lily said as if reading Lyn's thoughts, diving down and scooping the quaffle off the ground with her outstretched arm effortlessly. She chucked the ball to Lyn who caught it and cradled it to her chest. "Pass the quaffle back and forth a few times to get a feel for how each of you throws."

Lyn nodded and tossed it sideways to Rose who nearly fell off her broom in surprise but caught the quaffle none the less. The younger girl was slowly turning a delicate pasty color.

"I'll bet my broomstick they sent Hugo off to get Al to play seeker," Lily added, adjusting her grip on her broom handle. Her red hair was blowing easily in the wind and her brown eyes were alight in excitement. "So I'll be playing seeker because Al wouldn't dare try to knock me off my broom. Everyone good?"

The girls nodded and Victoire sped off to the hoops farthest away, Dominique soaring behind her with a recently acquired beaters bat. Lily shot off higher into the air and began looping around in midair with grace and style that only came from years of flying. Lyn watched her fly, stomach curling, before turning to look at Rose.

"Are you a good chaser?" she asked. Rose shrugged and tossed the quaffle back to her. Lyn caught it.

"As long as I don't look down," the younger girl said. Indeed, she looked a little green, and Lyn grinned.

"I think you and I will be getting along marvelously," Lyn said. She passed the quaffle back and did a hesitant loop-de-loop on her broom. The feeling of vertigo came back and she shivered, clutching the broomstick tighter.

_Note to self: No more loop-de-loops. _

James glared up at the five girls on brooms who, when they caught his eye, returned the look without much ice—save Elynxia Wolfe that was. With the looks that she was sending him you would have thought that James had insulted her mum. Which, quite obviously, he hadn't. But the young Mr. Potter wondered very much if his fellow classmate had remembered the flying lesson when he declared, quite loudly, to everyone that he could see her underwear.

The maniac spark in her eye as she glared at him told him that, yes, she did remember and, no, she wasn't going to just _take _it.

Hugo blew on the whistle and Teddy, as the only one who could legally use magic, waved his wand releasing one of the tethered bludgers into the air. It shot up like a cannon ball, almost succeeding in knocking Rose off her broom before she hastily got out of the way.

_Let the game begin_, Lyn thought icily.

The game started out as normal as a Quidditch game ever would be. James dived for the quaffle and picked it out of the air easily, tossing it back to Teddy with practiced grace and speed. Teddy zipped through on his broom, jumping over a terrified Rose who—by the minute—was looking more and more air sick. He made his way easily towards the goal post where the part veela was perched on her broom. Teddy slowed, over exaggerating his moves to tease the keeper.

"Work your magic Victoire!" Lily called from where she was circling, eyes peering around like a hawk looking for the snitch.

Victoire grinned at Teddy and flicked her hair alluringly, attracting Teddy's gaze. It appeared that, even through two generations, the veela charm didn't lose any of its power. Teddy's eyes unwillingly followed her long flowing hair through the summer breeze, his jaw slackening a bit.

"Ted-dy!" James shouted, drawing out his name into two syllables. "Oi! She's just a—"

A bludger came careening his way, hit spectacularly by Dominique Weasley who, for such a pretty, thin girl, grinned as the bludger forced James to dive out of its way. Teddy tossed the quaffle over his shoulder to where he had heard James, mistaking his shout for a call to pass the ball, and Lyn spiraled down to get it, taking both her hands off of the broom to catch it before it could slip through her fingers.

"Gotcha!"she cried, her stomach lurching and her heart coming up to rest in her throat somewhere. She let out a muffled cry of fear as the ground spun below her.

"Lyn, here!" Rose's voice called out. Lyn focused her sight on her and chucked the ball to Rose's outstretched hands, pulling quickly out of the dive.

Rose caught the red ball on the edges of her fingers, gasped and pointed somewhere over Lyssander's—who was the boy's keeper—shoulder causing him to lose focus and look at where she was pointing. Rose grinned and tucked the quaffle neatly through the middle hoop. The girls whooped in victory.

"Sander, keep your bloody head in the game!" a thoroughly annoyed Lorcan said, venting his feelings and hitting a bludger towards his twin. "You just got distracted by a _girl_!"

Lyssander made to make a very rude gesture to his twin when a scream interrupted him.

"Look!" Lyn pointed up to the sky where Albus and Lily had taken off, shooting across the field like darts after a tiny gold blur, almost indistinguishable from the rest of the surrounding field.

Lyn seized the opportunity while the boys where distracted to take the quaffle and make two more goals. That made the girls thirty, boys _zip_.

Twenty feet above them Lily threw herself in front of her brother's broom and he veered up hastily, anxious not to send his baby sister careening off the side of her broom. And, in all the excitement, the snitch disappeared.

"That's _cheap_!" James shouted, turning to Hugo. "Call them on it! They can't use their… their… _girlyness _on a Quidditch Pitch."

Hugo rolled his eyes. "Just play the game James."

"Yeah James, we can't help it if our girly charms are getting in the way of _your _ability to play Quidditch," Dominique mocked. Victoire at least had the decency to try and look innocent. Teddy shot her a dirty look.

Hugo blew his whistle. "All of you better start playing or we'll have to say the girls won."

The boys shot back up into the air faster than you could say _Quidditch, _but they didn't look happy about it.

Lyn shot an icy smirk at James who returned it whole heartedly.

"Evasive maneuvers," Teddy called to James, scooping up the quaffle. "_Now!_"

James and Teddy sped down the pitch at a lightening pace, tossing the quaffle back and forth with moves that were almost too fast to trace. Lyn and Rose—who were not as gifted fliers as they were—sped after them. There was going to be no way that they could catch up with them.

Teddy focused harder, ignoring the flowing hair of a certain Victoire Weasley and threw the ball through the hoop. Victoire deflected it and James caught it, tossing it straight back in for a score in favor of the boys.

"Ten points," Hugo called lazily.

"Lyn!" Victoire called, tossing the quaffle to her. Lyn took it and sped off down to the goalpost at the opposite side, nearly spinning out of control as she dodged a cleverly placed bludger and put it through the hoop by sheer luck.

"Forty to ten," Hugo called. "Girls."

It was sad, but true, that the boys were better fliers and players then them, but they underestimated the power of being a girl.

Victoire's hair whipped through the air, distracting the best player on the boys' team and frustrating the second best to no ends. (Teddy Lupin knew how to deal with distractions but he'd never been smacked so hard by the veela charm before and it wasn't something that many people recovered from quickly.) Dominique was a superior beater to Lyssander and had quite a gift for sending bludgers spinning after players just at the wrong moments, causing them to drop the quaffle or lose sight of the snitch as was the case for Albus a total of three times. And, in the midst of all the distractions, Rose and Lyn were actually given a chance to try their hand at chasing.

Though, of course, that still didn't stop the boys from playing well. James zoomed around the pitch angrily, scoring three more goals defiantly, but Rose and Lyn answered—with the help of Dominique's superb beater skills—answered with two goals of their own.

"Sixty, forty, girls," Hugo said, grinning. "Still think I shouldn't play James?"

"Shove it Hugo," James snapped, tearing after the quaffle as it drooped through the air after a sloppy pass from Lyn that Rose had dropped.

And here, James Potter thought, was his moment for redemption.

He dropped down towards the ground and caught the quaffle, his ever cocky grin present on his face. Lyn blanched, everything else but his zooming form blanking out in her mind. She didn't need Lily shouting at her and telling her to knock him off his broom to know what to do. It was pure instinct fused with the uncontrollable need for revenge that drove her to do what she did next.

Forgetting that she was afraid of heights, forgetting that she got airsick extremely quickly and forgetting that this was James Potter she was up against, she kicked her Nimbus into overdrive and shot like a bullet at him. She was only five seconds away from smacking into him… _four _seconds… _Three… _she was nearly on top of him…_Two… _if she didn't pull up now she was going to crash into him and not only hurt him, but herself in the process… _One… _they were going to crash!

James, realizing that she wasn't going to pull up at the last second like he had thought, had no other choice. It was either abandon ship or get the snot knocked out of him by a girl. A split second before they would have made contact, James—in a move that was both daring and brainless—leapt off of his broom and into the air, falling back to the ground with a sickening sense of freefall prevalent in his stomach.

The quaffle dropped out of his grasp, just as Lyn knew it would, and she dived for it, cradling the ball in her arms and shooting towards the keeper's goals that Lyssander was hovering in front of, his mouth agape. She scored easily, faking towards the left before easily putting it through the center ring. Lyssander just stared at her as if seeing her for the first time.

Meanwhile, Teddy shot down to the ground after his godbrother, catching him on his own broom before James could break his neck. Lyn grinned and chucked the quaffle to Rose who put in her own points making the score eighty to forty. She felt giddy. Was it possible they could win this?

But at that moment both Lily and Albus had pulled into a dive, racing each other to the ground where the snitch was lurking. Both stretched out their hands and…

Albus put his hand up in the air, pulling out of his dive with stunning grace and smiling largely. He'd caught the snitch! Lyn looked hurriedly towards the youngest Potter, wincing. But far from looking disappointed, Lily grinned and landed, all of the other girls following her down.

"Are you happy about losing?" Lyn questioned, looking confused. She had been so sure that the youngest Potter would throw a fit. Lily shrugged the grin still firmly in place on her face.

"In Quidditch at home the snitch is only worth fifty points because there are so few players and fewer distractions. They were only ten ahead. That was some wicked flying on your part Lyn."

Lyn blushed. "Thanks. I dunno what it was…"

"You're barking mad, that's what!" James said, landing next to the queue of girls on the ground on the back of Teddy's broom. Teddy waved his wand and retrieved James's broom that had been lazily speeding around the field in the absence of a rider. "What were you playing at, trying to knock me off my broom!"

"She didn't just try, she succeeded," Hugo said gleefully. "Or, more like you _jumped _off your broom."

James growled angrily, glaring at his cousin whose smile didn't fade.

"Oh, don't be sore about it, it was a good move," Lorcan said, landing smoothly next to his friend. "Right Sander?"

Lyssander didn't answer but landed quickly, staggering slightly. Hugo grinned wider.

"You almost got beaten by a girl James," he said, enjoying it thoroughly. "Never thought that I'd see the day."

James grunted, not in the mood to be teased, but his relatives relentlessly pushed him.

"Good game. But you know, you guys could've scored more points if James would just have stayed on his broom," Dominique said, grinning at Lyn. Lyn grinned back.

"She nearly killed me," James said furiously, clenching his fists and glaring at Lyn. "That move was cheap!"

Lyn smiled and flicked her curls over her shoulder. "I can't help it if you jumped off your broom James. That was your choice, not mine."

Behind her Lily giggled, Dominique snickered and Rose rolled her eyes.

"Y-you're a nutter!" James said, shaking his head. "Crazy, absolutely barking mad!"

Lyn glared. "And don't you forget it _James Potter_."

And she flounced away, Rose Weasley and Lily Potter at her side. Dominique grinned and walked away with her sister, teasing her relentlessly about her Quidditch style. It seemed as if Dominique Weasley was only truly happy when taking the mickey out of someone.

Teddy Lupin gave a low whistle, watching them walk away.

"She's a keeper," Teddy said, winking at James. James growled.

"No she's not," he argued, rubbing his arm where Teddy had been forced to grab it during his moments of freefall. And, somewhat bitterly, he added, "She's a _chaser_, obviously."

Teddy grinned and shook his head, deciding not to push it. Anymore prodding and James was going to lose it.

Looking back, a few years later, maybe James would realize that his older godbrother hadn't exactly been talking about Quidditch positions.

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**A/n: **Haha. Oh James, so blissfully ignorant… :)

I have to admit, this is like my least favorite chapter that I've written so far besides the sorting chapter. There wasn't enough Quidditch action in it but, hey, I tried. Leave me a review telling me what you liked or disliked and I'll leave you a review reply! Deal? Haha.

Well, that's all for now! Until next time…

Mischief Managed!

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	13. One Week More

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n:**** It's been a while hasn't it? It always is in between updates... Forgive me! :) And now, onto the story!**

-UndeniablyMe ;)

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**Chapter Twelve: One Week More**

The summer drew to a close quickly after the eventful boys versus girls Quidditch game, though James was still steaming for days and days afterwards. He didn't know what he was more upset about, the fact that Elynxia Wolfe had nearly knocked him off his broom—("Not nearly James, she succeeded!" Lorcan reminded him gleefully, every chance he got)—or the fact that Elynxia Wolfe now wore an award winning smirk that would have made Salazar Slytherin proud. She knew she'd gotten under his skin and she _loved _it.

Lyn's summer was uneventful after the Quidditch game, as her friends couldn't make it to come visit her due to summer holiday plans that had changed. She tried her best not to be too upset over it however, seeing as penned at each of her friend's apologies had been the words, _See you September 1__st__! _And with each passing day the date of their return to Hogwarts got closer and closer and Lyn's spirits lifted.

Soon, she would be going back to school, back to where she belonged. It didn't matter that soon she'd have to endure one more year with the insufferable, yet slightly cute, James Sirius Potter. It didn't matter that, due to spectacular planning on her mother and Aunty Luna's part, she ended up in Diagon Alley at the same time as the prick and had to put up with him whilst shopping for school books. She'd be going back to the castle…

She reminded herself of this as she, begrudgingly, made her way to the fire to join up with her twin cousins and embark on a shopping trip that was, with no doubt, going to be the biggest disaster of her life.

_One week more, _she told herself. _One week more..._

_&_

"You're not serious Mum!" James said, groaning and throwing himself down on the couch. "We're going shopping with Luna?"

"And what is wrong with that, James Sirius?" Ginny asked, from where she bustling around in a drawer looking for her misplaced wand. "Did you take my wand again Lily?"

"No Mum."

"Mu-um!" James said, sitting up and perching his elbows on the back of the couch. "I'm talking to you here!"

"Yes, I know," she said, looking up at him. She pushed her vibrant red hair back from her face and sighed. "I'm sorry dear. What's so bad about going shopping with Aunt Luna? The twins will be there too. Where are they anyways...?" she added, as an afterthought, turning around as if she expected to see them hiding behind her.

"Still sleeping," James aid with a careless shrug. "And it's not that we're shopping with Luna. I just know that if we do that horrible niece of hers will be there."

"Horrible niece?" Ginny poked around in the couch cousins now, searching for her lost wand. "What horrible niece?"

"Elynxia Wolfe." James spat the name as if it were some disgusting swear word.

At his mother's confused look Lily added in, "She's the girl who was at Daddy's party. She knocked James off his broom, remember Mum?"

Ginny's face twisted into a smile but, at James's angry expression, morphed into one that you would adopt at the bedside of a sick loved one.

"Oh... That's right," she said, trying not to appear to gleeful.

"She didn't _knock _me off my broom, I _jumped_," James said angrily. "And I jumped so that we wouldn't crash. The barmy girl can't even fly a broom!"

Lily exchanged a humorous look with her mother before dancing up the steps, saying, "I'll just change and grab my cloak really fast."

"Hurry dear, we're meeting them at the Leaky Cauldron in five minutes!" She smiled after her daughter fondly before turning back to her son. "And you'll be completely civil to this Wolfe girl, you understand? You won the Quidditch game, I have no idea why you're so sore about it."

"On principle, he has to be," Albus said, reveling in the fact that it was now James at the recieving end of being teased. "He almost got beaten by a girl."

"_But didn't!_" James said furiously. Ginny, sensing a fist fight between her two boys coming on, jumped in between.

"Now, now you two," she said, now on her knees and searching beneath the couch for her lost wand. "Go get ready to go to Diagon Alley, would you? Aha!"

She pulled her wand out from underneath the couch.

"However it got down there I have no idea..."

&

The only thing that put a damper on the day would not only be running into James Potter, as they so eventually would have to do, despite all of Lyn's pleadings that they wouldn't. And it just so happened that running into the infamous Potter happened right outside the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"Behave yourself," his mother chastened him.

"Whatever," he answered, rolling his eyes. His mother gave him a frown and began tapping the bricks. A moment later the bricks moved aside and revealed the wizard street it concealed.

Diagon Alley was no different in splendor than Lyn remembered it. The glowing windows displaying goods and the store signs calling out sale after sale… It was all as it had been every time she'd seen it and, yet, this time it looked slightly different. But exactly what was different she couldn't put her finger on.

She looked around happily as the little plump witches and balding wizards chased around her after their children. The tone was light, exciting, happy… The prospect of returning to Hogwarts was thick in the air and catching.

"Harry did try to get off work," Ginny was saying to Luna fretfully, pushing her long red bangs out of her face and giving a smile. "But the minister insisted that he needed his help today."

"Poor Harry," Luna said with a sigh, her airy voice drifting around in the noise from the street. "If anyone deserves a break it'd be him."

Meanwhile, the pleasantries between the younger generation was not so warm. As they walked down the sunny street the temperatrue between them became increasingly colder.

"Potter," Lyn said haughtily.

"Wolfe," James answered icily.

"Scamander!" Lorcan added, grinning hugely. When James and Lyn turned and raised their eyebrows at him he shrugged. "I didn't want to be left out."

"Merlin forbid someone ever leave _you _out of anything Lor," Lyssander said with a great roll of his eyes. And then, to forestall the unpleasant comments that were sure to surface between Lyn and James, he said, "What have you been up to since you left Elynxia?"

"Just lazing around home." Lyn said with a shrug. Lyssander smiled and the conversation tapered off.

"Awkward!" Lily supplied, from on her mother's other side. Ginny gave her daughter a warning look and Albus rolled his eyes, wandering off to go look at broomsticks.

"Oh, look! Isn't that Fleur?" Luna's voice cut through the uncomfortable silence between the twelve year olds. They looked up to see a frustrated Fleur dragging her two daughters behind her. "Fleur!"

Ginny and Luna waved and the three made their way over. They exchanged pleasantries and it became apparent very quickly how truly peeved Fleur was.

"Bill eez taking Louis around," Fleur said, swishing her long blonde hair in a very characteristic way. More than three men ran into the wall with dazed looks and Lyn grinned. "And I am taking zees two. Victoire needs a new cauldron—you know she completely melted through 'er last two? I can not imagine what she 'as been doing…"

Victoire and James grinned at one another because, really, melting Victoire's last two cauldrons had all been Teddy's fault. Not, of course, that they were going to own up to anything.

"Hey Jamsie," Victoire said by way of greeting, ruffling James's already messy hair. "What have you been up to?"

He pushed his cousin off with a cry of disgust at being treated like he was five and Victoire's grin got wider.

"Heya Lily," she said, leaning in to give the younger girl a hug. "Where's Al?"

"Looking at broomsticks," Lily answered. "James wanted to go too, but Mum made him promise to stay by her so she can make sure to get the right fitting robes."

"Ickle Jamesie going shopping with his mummy?" Dominique asked, grinning devilishly.

"Shut it Dom."

"Elynxia!" Dominique said, grinning. "Knocked James off anything lately?"

Lyn grinned and James colored. Victoire, to stave off an argument, cut in with a, "How's Uncle Harry?"

James glared, but said sullenly, "Fine, I guess. He's been doing extra hours at the ministry though." He shrugged, unconcerned. "If anything ever goes wrong at the Ministry these days it's always, 'Just bring in Harry Potter! If anyone knows how to fix anything it'd be him!' Rather annoying really. Dad's more popular then the latest Celestina Warkbeck album."

"Which isn't hard, if you think about it," Dominique chipped in, grinning. "That old bat should have died ages ago. Did you know she was huge back in Grandma Weasley's time?"

James rolled his eyes. "Don't you have a dress shop to be off to Dom?"

Dominique scowled and Fleur, who was reminded of the much needed dress robes for her second daughter, ushered her off quickly with a cry of, "'Ow stupid of me! Zat is what we came for in ze first place! _Au revoir_!"

"I'll get you later James," Dominique swore, her face furious and her mother ushering her two children away. It was a well known fact that she didn't like anything to do with dresses or pretty things. Victoire gave a wave and went off with her mother and sullen sister.

James waved and gave a grin.

"Right, so where are we ditching you?" he asked, turning to Lyn briskly. "Somewhere frilly no doubt?"

Instead of arguing Lyn merely swept her curly hair over one shoulder and said, "Fallen off any brooms lately _Potter_?"

James turned a delicate shade of red and Lyssander slapped a hand over Lorcan's mouth to stop a loud laugh from extracting itself. Lyn gave a grin and then, turning on her heel, stalked away. James split his fury between Lyn, who was walking away, and Lily who didn't hesitate to laugh as loud as she could. Only a warning look from her mother quieted her.

"Wait Lynx!" Luna's voice rang out firmly, its airy pleasure causing her to turn back. "Where are you going?"

"I'll meet you at Flourish and Blotts!" Lyn said, waving her hand unconcernedly. Luna nodded, happy with that answer, and dragged the three troublemakers away from Quality Quidditch Supplies, Ginny and Lily trailing after them.

She wasn't quite sure why, but seeing James again had put her in a worse mood than usual. Added to the fact that Wren and Berkley couldn't come visit, and she was feeling quite miserable. She traipsed around the high street, looking moodily in the shop windows, for nearly a quarter of an hour.

_One week more, _she tried to remind herself, but the feeling of misery didn't lift.

A flash of dirty blonde hair on the high street made her look up in excitement. She knew that face, that hair color…

"Ilia!" Lyn called excitedly, pushing through the crowd to get to her friend. "Ilia! Over here!"

But Ilia either really was deaf or she was ignoring her on purpose. It took stepping out in front of the girl to actually make her acknowledge Lyn.

"Merlin Ilia," Lyn said, slightly out of breath and cheeks a deep red. "You must be deaf. Couldn't you hear me shouting your name down the street?"

Ilia's face was smoothly blank. She didn't look as pleased as Lyn had hoped she'd be to see her fellow housemate.

"No."

"Oh… well…" Lyn trailed off, feeling uncomfortable as Ilia stared down at her without emotion. The thought of giving her a friendly hug was quite out of the question it seemed. Ilia wasn't inspiring confidence. "Umm… How was your summer?"

"Fine," the girl answered back, an edge of coldness apparent in her tone. "We went to Belgium and than to Spain."

Lyn gave a huge grin. "Wow, that's amazing! I want to hear all about it!"

Ilia's expression was suddenly smug. "Yes, I'm sure you would. But I can't talk now; I'm going to meet my mother at Madame Malkins."

"Oh…" Lyn tried not to look crestfallen. "Well, I'll see you at Kings Cross right? We can sit together on the train! This year is going to be _great_!"

Ilia gave her a pitying look as if Lyn were a very small child and didn't realize something that she had noticed.

"I'm sorry Elynxia, I promised I'd sit with a few girls from Ravenclaw," Ilia said, cool as she could manage, smoothing the front of her uniform and raising an eyebrow at Lyn's casual muggle clothing. Something in Lyn's face looked so shocked, so pathetic, that she added, "But I'm sure I'll see you at the feast."

"Oh…" Lyn tried her best to give a warm smile but it was harder with each minute. "Yeah, okay… I'll see you then…"

Before she could finish Ilia had turned away and disappeared into the crowd thronging the street. And, sadly, Lyn walked towards Flourish and Blotts, wondering what it was that could have happened to make Ilia so cold.

"Elynxia, over here!" Lyn blushed at the use of her full name and glared at Lyssander reproachfully. He looked unabashed and grinned back at her as she trotted up to join them in front of the store.

"Did you find everything?" Luna asked her niece, grabbing Lorcan's hand and yanking him out of the way of a shop owner who was levitating cauldrons in front of his shop. "Lorcan your head is full of whackspurts," she added. "We'll have to get them cleaned out before school starts again."

Lyn, who was used to this eccentric behavior from her aunt, disregarded the comment. "Yeah, I found… everything…"

Her aunt examined her with her oddly wide eyes, studying her face carefully. "Is everything alright? You look sad… Did you want your mother to be here with you? Or did you want to see your friends here too?"

Lyn, despite the many years of knowing her Aunty Luna, was once again taken aback at her Aunt's way of embarrassing the truth. She gave an almost imperceptible nod, and moved through the door.

_If Potter makes one comment I'll curse him, _she thought firmly. But James was even less interested in Lyn's strangely muted behavior than he was the books on his booklist, which was saying something.

_She was just in a hurry, that's all, _Lyn convinced herself, her thoughts still on Ilia to distract from the disappointment that her mother couldn't come to help her shop in Diagon Alley. _I bet when we get to school at the feast…_

She focused on the mindless chatter of the other store patrons to distract herself and, for the first time she could remember, was glad to go back home from Diagon Alley.

_One week, _she reminded herself. _One more week, and I'll be going back… One week…_

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**A/n: **So, because I get all these amazing reviews (you guys rock!!!!) I've decided to start a reviewer spotlight. At the end of every update I'll put the name of my favorite review for that chapter down here. And this time's goes to...

**_ComeWriteOutAndSayIt_**

Thanks for the review! I loved all of the reviews you guys gave, so how about you do it again? And, as always, thanks to **BittersweetSummer**, your reviews always mean so much to me!

That's all for now! Thanks again!

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	14. Arriving with a Bang

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **Here's the next update. I feel so bad that it's taken so long—I seriously thought that I'd already added it! My apologies!! Thanks for all you who reviewed!

See you at the bottom.

-UndeniablyMe ;)

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**Chapter Thirteen: Arriving with a Bang**

September 1st had arrived, and not a moment too soon. Lyn had been going crazy at home. The anticipation to be back at school, the place where she belonged, even outweighed her fear at having to leave her mother. The homesickness would come, Lyn knew, but for the time being the excitement at going back to Hogwarts over took every other feeling in the world.

"I'm going back, I'm going back!" Lyn declared happily, dancing around the little kitchen in hers and her mother's flat, laughing loudly. "I'm going back to Hogwarts!"

Lyla Wolfe gave a smile. Her perpetually young face was alight with the energy of her twelve year-old daughter. Lyn's mood was catching.

"You have your trunk packed, right dearest?" she asked, pouring over the parchment that listed her school supplies needed for the upcoming year. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there shopping with you. I felt horrible…"

"No worries Mama," Lyn said, doing an over exaggerated little bow to her mother's cat Truffles. The cat rolled over onto her stomach lazily, hardly sparing the over excited girl a second glance. "Aunt Luna took me around and it all worked out grandly."

_Except for the Ilia part, _she added inside her head, but her overzealous smile masked the thought from her mother, who was waving her wand over her daughter's trunk.

"Did you pack _all _of your underwear?" Lyla asked, turning to Lyn and giving a little frown. "You don't want to run out halfway through the year."

Lyn's smile faded off her face. "Ew. You did not just ask me about underwear!"

Lyla rolled her eyes. "I'm your mother. Can't a mother ask her daughter if she packed enough clean pairs of underwear?"

Lyn's answer was firm. "No. No she cannot."

Her mother poked her tongue out at her before saying, "I suppose if you ran out you could go into Hogsmeade to buy some more…"

"Mama, people don't go into Hogsmeade to buy underwear. They go to buy stuff from Honeydukes and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and the Shrieking Shack…" Lyn stared off wistfully into the corner. "But you have to be a third year to visit…"

"Next year, Elynxia," her mother said consolingly. She tucked her wand into her hair for safe keeping and sighed. "It seems like you got everything, and if you forgot anything write back and I'll send it along with Penny. You all ready to go? Where's Scamper…?"

"Out back saying goodbye to the garden gnomes," Lyn said brightly. She shoved her wand into her front pocket. "I'll just go grab him and we can be off to the station!"

"A whole hour early," Lyla said, rolling her eyes. "Though, I can't blame you. You have been up since five. If you'd had your way we would have left for the station four hours ago."

Lyn grinned. "One can never be too early to catch a train."

&

"James Sirius _Potter_!"

The call resounded through the Potter's household, loud and startling, serving to wake up more occupants in the house than a howler would have. The little people in photos that lined the walls jumped, woken from their slumbers at the unpleasant screech, and rubbed their eyes. It had to be September 1st, because that was the only morning of the whole entire year that Mrs. Ginny Potter was so cross with her son James. Said son, however, had not heard his mother's dulcet tones as they sounded up the stairs and down the hallway.

James's bedroom was the last in the hall, on the right, directly across from Albus's, which was on the left. Whether it was the strategically placed location of his bedroom—the window faced the little Quidditch Pitch that was barely discernable over the trees—or the extra thick walls that had been put in place after his memorable temper tantrums as a three year old when he'd kicked a hole in the wall that muffled the sound, no one knew. Ginny Potter might as well have been trying to wake the dead.

"I'm _serious _James," Ginny said, entering his room with a bang. She waved her wand at the window shades which leapt up, betraying the bright sunlight beyond. "You need to get up _now_ or we'll never make it to Kings Cross in time."

"No, _I'm _Sirius," the tired twelve year-old grumbled, pulling his Chudley Cannons comforter over his head. "And Dad can just _apparate _me there."

"He could not," Ginny said, giving her wand another flick. The blankets, on which seven Quidditch players zoomed around, grinning and falling off their brooms, flew off and crumpled in a heap at the foot of James's bed. "You know that you're not allowed to apparate directly into Kings Cross."

"Dad's the 'Chosen One'," James said, putting his head under the pillows and feeling blindly around for the blankets that weren't there. "He can do what he wants."

Another flick of his mother's wand and the pillow had been wrenched from his grasp and put beyond his reach.

"You have _three minutes _James Sirius, do you hear me?" Ginny threatened. "If you're not up, dressed and downstairs in _three minutes _you'll suffer the consequences, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," James said, waving an unconcerned hand at her. Ginny glared.

"Three minutes!" she enforced, slamming the door shut behind her. Across the hall she could be heard asking Albus to please not follow his brother's bad example and if he would, please, get up so that they could get moving. Two minutes later Albus could be heard moving downstairs at his mother's request.

James couldn't help but grin. He wasn't afraid of his mother. He could sleep in as late as he darn well pleased.

Downstairs, a furious Ginny fixed breakfast for the only three Potters and Scamander twins who had decided to get up at all; none of the Potters awake at that moment were even attending Hogwarts that year.

"Your son," she said, angrily setting down a skillet of hash browns on the table. "Is driving me mental."

Harry gave grin. "Lighten up Gin. I thought you'd be sad that he was leaving."

"I expect I will be when he actually _leaves_," she said morosely, catching the falling pitcher of orange juice with one hand and a sigh of, "Careful Lorcan." She sat down heavily in her chair, pulling her long mane of red hair into a bun. "But it's always the getting him up and out the door that's difficult, no matter what it is! Whether it was going to primary school, going to my Mum's house…" She shook her head fretfully. "He's going to give me more gray hairs then the other two combined."

Lily and Albus shared a sly grin. Mum hadn't seen what they were hiding in the backyard yet which was, without a doubt, going to add at least ten gray hairs to the non-existent seven that she swore she already had.

"Mum, it's been five minutes," Lily chipped in helpfully. "James still isn't down here."

"Don't be a tattle teller Lily," her mother admonished half heartedly. She pointed her wand at the ceiling towards where James's room was. There was a loud whooshing sound of water falling out of a pail onto something—or in this case, someone—followed by a yell.

"MU-UM!!!!"

"I told you to get up."

Harry chuckled. He loved his family.

&

Lyn negotiated her way around the train as it gained momentum, waving furiously out the window at her mother's retreating figure. Her mother had a few tears rolling down her cheeks, tears that were echoed on Lyn's face.

"I love you Mama!" she yelled out the window, over the train's whistle.

Her mother's reply was drowned out but, even from a distance, she could read her lips. _I love you too…_

It was the one misfortunate thing about going to Hogwarts. She always had to leave her mother behind. And her least favorite moment of going back to school was always the moment in between saying goodbye to her mother and finding her friends; the part when she was most alone.

"Lynna-girl!" The call went down the corridor, lifting Lyn's spirits as she looked up. Wren was dashing towards her down the cramped corridor, dragging her huge trunk behind her and knocking people over left and right. Lyn smiled.

The new school year was _just _beginning…

&

"Don't try to duel anyone on your first night—"

"Unless you can beat them."

"No jinxing people in the halls—"

"Unless it's a Slytherin."

"Play nicely with the other kids—"

"Especially if they're girls."

"And _don't listen to your Uncle Ron!_"

There was a loud whack as two different women, two different mothers, smacked Ron over the head for his unhelpful additions to their instructions to the departing children. Fred laughed and James grinned, wickedly.

"Bye Dad!" James said, giving a fleeting hug to his father. "See you at Christmas, Mum. Don't miss me too much!"

Ginny caught her son in a tight hug, kissed his head ("Ah, yuck Mum, yuck!!") and put him on the train.

"Love you!!" she called, waving.

"Keep a lookout for nargles, Sander, you know how prone Lorcan is to getting those…" Luna's voice carried shockingly well over the train's whistle to her very embarrassed sons.

"Bye Mum!" They said in unison, waving half-heartedly. And then, the train turned the corner, and whisked their parents out of sight. James sighed.

Five minutes on the train and not a sign of trouble. Well, they'd have to change that. This year could very well shape up to be a good one.

&

Meeting up with Berkley and Scarlet wasn't hard after Lyn had found her friend Wren. The two simply had to follow the trail of disgruntled students, looking ruffled, bruised and murderous, to know that their over exuberant friend had passed by. Many hugs, exclamations at how each had changed over the summer and apologies for not coming to visit were exchanged as they made their way down the cramped corridor in search of seats.

They really needed to add another car to the Hogwarts Express. Finding seating was _terrible_!! So far their best options had been to sit next to a bunch of first years, Slytherin third years and an unpleasant looking Slytherin sixth year. Lyn was beginning to tire of carrying her cumbersome trunk. They needed somewhere to sit!

"Oh, let's sit in there!" Wren finally said excitedly, pointing to the compartment door that belonged to none other than her cousins and James Potter. Lyn frowned. She'd walk to Hogwarts before she sat in that prick's compartment!

"We can't all fit in there," she said smoothly, making to walk past it. "Come on; let's look further down the train."

"Nonsense," Wren said firmly, wrenching the door open. "Oi! You three mind if us girls join you?"

The three boys shrugged and Wren stepped purposefully in.

Lyn could think of possibly eight different places she'd rather be at that moment, which included falling off a broom and drowning in the lake. By the look of sheer uncomfortable embarrassment that was on Berkley's face she quite agreed. Only Scarlet seemed perfectly fine with the whole situation and settled herself comfortably next to Lorcan.

"Scarlet Gryffin," she said brightly, extending her head and giving her golden hair an unnecessary swish so that it caught the light. "You're Lorcan Scamander, aren't you? The one who put slugs in the Headmistress's tea."

"Yeah, that was me," he affirmed, grinning hugely. "Got two weeks detention for it too."

And, just like that, the most awkward trip to Hogwarts of Elynxia Wolfe's _life_ was to begin. Which, as it was only the second one didn't, mean too much.

An hour later left an ornery Lyn sitting in a compartment full of conversations she had no invitation or desire to join in. When imagining the journey back to her favorite place she hadn't envisioned the journey going _anything _like this. An almost identical surly James, who for once was not adding to the cheery atmosphere with his comments, frowned out the window pointedly. Spending hours in a compartment with that _girl _was not the way he was planning on spending his ride back to Hogwarts.

"Exploding snap anyone?" Lyn finally offered, pulling out the cards, with a bored look on her face.

Unfortunately, it seemed no one was interested. Scarlet and Lorcan were busy discussing Quidditch, Berkley had taken to discussing her favorite books with a very pink Lyssander and Wren was gorging herself on sweets from the trolley. Only James Potter showed the slightest signs of having heard her. His scowl, which had been permanently etched on his face only moments before, flickered.

"Want to play exploding snap Potter?" Lyn asked, raising her voice. The compartment trailed off into silence as each of her friends turned to look at her in surprise. They hadn't expected Lyn to talk to James.

James looked up from where he had been staring out the window and scowled.

"You going to cheat again if I do?" he shot at her, giving a glare. She returned it whole heartedly.

"I didn't cheat during the Quidditch game," she answered coolly, much to the general grins from the Scamander twins plus Scarlet who already knew about the Quidditch game that had happened over the summer. She pulled her unmanageable curly hair back into a bun and James thought it looked as if she'd stuck a fork in the socket. "But if you're afraid to play against me…"

The look on James's face became uglier and she gave an easy grin, knowing that she had hit a very sore spot with him. If there was anything Lyn liked more than beating boys it was needling boys; anything to make them squirm.

"It's understandable," she elaborated in mock sympathy. "I mean, I wouldn't want to play against someone in anything if I knew they were capable of beating me at _everything._"

"Lyn," Lyssander warned, recognizing the warning signs of James's that meant he was about to lose his top. If it were possible there would probably be steam coming out of his ears.

Lyn disregarded this warning and stared evenly into James's hazel eyes, unafraid. For a split second James admired her bravery, but the moment of admiration was gone quicker than it came and the twelve year old was unable to recognize it for what it was.

"You think you can beat me at _everything_ do you Wolfe?" he asked. Lyn gave a curt nod, her lips curling humorously. "You're wrong."

"Prove it," Lyn challenged. James's glare became icier as hers became more burning.

"You're on."

Both slid to the floor with synchronized and easy moves as Lyn started shuffling the cards, her eyes never leaving that of James's. He stared right back and the dislike etched in both faces was apparent. One passing by the compartment would think they were getting ready for a wizard's duel and not a simple game of exploding snap.

James drew first and began stacking the cards with incautious ease and grace, barely paying mind to what his nimble fingers were doing. Lyn's stomach clenched as she watched his hands move, stacking three rows on top of another without even batting an eyelash. He was good at the game, of that there could be no doubt, but Lyn was willing to bet ten galleons she was _better_.

"You're going to have to kick it into gear to compete with _me _Potter," she said smoothly, beginning her stacking of the fourth row. James hung back and watched her with a calculating look, much like a predator would when thinking up the best way to take down some prey.

"Don't count on it Wolfe," he said, giving a noncommittal shrug, his eyes never losing their hard edge. "I've never been beaten yet."

The two fell back into silence as their hands danced carefully around each other's, building a precarious tour of flimsy cards that could explode at any moment. The cards in exploding snap were designed specifically to explode—hence the ingenious name—at any moment, but years of practice with her mother had taught her that by a simple stroke down the center of a card you could usually buy yourself at least two and a half seconds of time to place the card. James was going to have to work hard to beat her. Eight rows and counting and Lyn was starting to get nervous. The highest she'd ever gone was twenty-five. The world record for an exploding snap tower was thirty.

James frowned at her. "You're good, I'll give you that."

Lyn didn't answer. She didn't want him to see how nervous she was.

"One of you ought to topple that soon," Berkley finally said, looking up from her book with a small frown on her face a quarter of an hour after the construction of the card tower had started. "If that thing falls it'll blow all of us up."

But neither James nor Lyn were listening to Berkley. They kept stacking the cards taller and taller, eventually demanding the use of Lorcan and Wren's decks to keep the insane pile of cards building higher and higher.

_Stroke, place, retreat, _Lyn repeated to herself, chant-like and eerie, as if she was negotiating steadily with the cards not to blow up in her face. _Stroke, place, retreat._

But really, the fun was only beginning. No less than twenty-seven rows had been erected when the imminent demise came to pass, freezing all the occupants of the compartment. Momentarily, in the split second before it fell, James shot a slightly awed look at her that she returned with a fleeting smile. Competition with James Potter pushed her like nothing else did.

And then, as if in slow motion the top card fluttered, dislodged by the sleeve of someone's jacket as the train's slowing down barely brushed it. All seven of them stared with eyes wide and fearful as the card flutter this way and that and then began to fall.

There was only one thing left to do.

"RUN!" Lorcan yelled, voicing the thought in everyone's head. He grabbed Scarlet and an absentminded Wren, who was still going through her large piles of sweets, around the wrist and pushed them roughly through the door. Lyssander and Lyn ducked out of the compartment with their arms thrown over their heads, Berkley hot on their heels. The compartment door was slammed shut behind them.

There was a loud and deafening _boom!_ followed by the surprised shrieks from the occupants in the compartments around them. No less than five compartment doors were thrown open. Older students ranging from third years all the way up to seventh years crowded the corridor; their wands held aloft and fear stricken faces staring back at them.

"What _happened_?" an extremely astonished fourth year asked, a very pink and embarrassed looking Wren in his arms. Lyn gave Wren a strange and unreadable look which was returned with a sly little smile.

"E-exploding snap!" Lorcan gasped out, clutching at his heart as if afraid it'd jump out of his chest. He turned to look at Scarlet. "You totally owe me. I just saved your life."

Scarlet frowned.

"That tower must have been huge," a fifth year girl said, appreciatively. "To have made an explosion so big."

Lyn straightened up proudly. "We got to twenty-eight before James toppled it."

Berkley raised an eyebrow at her, but the looks on the faces of the older students were definitely impressed.

"That's amazing!"

"The world record is something like thirty isn't it?"

Lyn smiled proudly. "Yeah, it is."

The smoke still billowed in the compartment and, after a sudden loud _thud _from inside, everyone's attention turned back to it.

"Did everyone—" a concerned looking prefect began, but Wren cut him off.

"Oh my gosh!" she squeaked, putting her hands over her face in a stressed way. The fourth year looked down, only seeming to realize that he was holding a frightened second year in his arms. "We completely forgot—"

"James!" Berkley said, cutting across her and looking horrified. She bounded forward to throw open the door and Lyssander yanked her backwards as another _thud _went off in the compartment. She glared at him. "We left James in the compartment when the cards blew up!! You can't just leave him in there!"

"Isn't the smoke from Exploding Snap radioactive though?" asked a worried looking third year. Their friend rolled their eyes at her.

"Get a clue, Amelia, who would play the game if it was?"

But when Wren didn't look the least bit concerned at the possibility that a friend of their friend's cousin could have, most possibly, blown himself up Berkley frowned.

"That was what you were going to say wasn't it?" she asked, cutting across the prefect who looked as if they were going to make a comment at this. "That we forgot James?"

"What? Er… yeah, of course," Wren said, looking insulted. But when Berkley's back was turned she mumbled only loud enough for the fourth year holding her to hear, "I was actually talking about the lollies I had left there in my trunk."

The fourth year gave a laugh and Wren turned pinker by the minute, looking quite proud of herself.

In the now only partially abandon compartment the smoke continued to swirl behind the shut door. Lyssander and Lorcan exchanged worried looks and both strode forward to open the door. Another _thud, _this one louder, made everyone in the compartment jump.

"This is ridiculous, it's just Potter in there," Lyn said with a great roll of her eyes. The whisperings in the corridor outside the compartments suddenly became louder at the name Potter.

The compartment door was pushed open by unseen hands causing those nearest to the door to jump and shriek. The compartment door slammed against the wall with a great _bang! _and more people yelled in shock as the little glass window cracked. Copious amounts of gray smoke billowed out into the corridor, choking and blinding the little group of people that had started to gather outside the compartment. James Sirius Potter tumbled out, bumping into a teary-eyed and annoyed Lyn. She pushed him away at once.

"_Watch—where—you're—going!_" she coughed, waving her hand in front of her face and holding her robes over her nose in an attempt to breathe in air that wasn't contaminated.

An older student who still had their wits about them waved their wand and the smoke vanished almost instantly, leaving only the stale smell of it behind. The snickers started up almost as soon as eyes were set on James.

James could admit, only years and years later of course, that the situation was pretty hilarious. His jet-black hair that stuck up at the back was smoking and standing even more on end than was usual. His cheeks were smudged with ashes from the cards and, to top it all off, his eyebrows had nearly been singed all the way off. He looked, and smelt, as if someone had lit a dung bomb and then given it to him to hold.

"Shut it," he said angrily, his fists clenched. Lyn kept laughing and her laugh was loud, unrestrained and, at the moment, the most hideous thing that James had ever heard in his life. It was obnoxious and nothing would have pleased him more than to never hear her laugh at him _ever _again.

"You look better that way. M-Merlin!! If that isn't the funniest—" Lyn could barely say anything through her laughter.

James thought she sounded like a donkey braying though not that he'd ever heard one before. He was quite sure though that, if he'd ever heard one, it'd sound exactly like Elynxia Wolfe's laugh. His glare hardened and he stalked off down the corridor outside the compartment, no doubt looking for Victoire so she could grow them back. She was rather good at eyebrow spells.

"You did that?" a watching sixth year asked, looking impressed down at Lyn. "And you're a bunch of first years?"

"_Second _years," Lorcan said, looking offended. "We're _second _years! There is a difference you know!"

The sixth year shrugged and the crowd slowly dispersed, the news of seven crazy first years having blown up a compartment on the Hogwarts Express already rampaging down the train like fiendfyre. ("But we're _SECOND _years!!" moaned Lorcan.)

The others traipsed back into the compartment, robes pulled up over their noses just in case. They used the compartment windows as wide as they would go—even going as far as using magic to charm them open a few inches farther than they were supposed to go (at Lorcan's insistence). Berkley flicked through one of her books, looking for a simple spell that would get rid of the stench. Lorcan offered to swap one horrible stench for another but, as the girls caught onto what he actually meant, they threatened to throw him out the magically charmed windows.

Outside, Lyn was still on the floor, her breath coming in spastic spurts.

Lyssander offered Lyn a hand from where she had collapsed. She grinned but stayed where she was.

"I think I won," she said brightly, smoothing her wrinkled robes and brushing off some of the dust from the floor. Lyssander frowned.

"You shouldn't push him like that," Lyssander said quietly from where he stood. Lyn looked up at him and gave a quizzical look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded. But suddenly she wished that it was anyone, even the insufferable prat she had set running only moments ago, that was out in the corridor with her; anyone but Lyssander. "It's not like I've done any worse to him than he's done to me."

Lyssander gave a little sigh as if she had missed a huge point. "I'm just saying Lyn. No one likes to be laughed at."

She could see the watching gaze of Wren, Berkley and Scarlet from where she was situated on the floor. She echoed Lyssander's frown.

"I wasn't laughing _at _him, I was laughing _with _him," she said loftily, mortified that her cousin would reprimand her in front of her friends. Who did he think he was, her mother?

"You know what I mean." Lyssander sounded frustrated now. "And I know it's like you to… to… 'put him in his place," his hands traced air quotes around the words and he sighed. "But you got to realize, he has feelings too Lyn. And I think you just hurt them."

Lyn became uncomfortable again, the knowledge that maybe she had gone too far making her squirm.

"Well… that's just peachy," she said dryly. "And I suppose it doesn't matter that _I _have feelings as well? Maybe he's hurt my feelings too."

Lyssander gave another little shrug. "I have no doubt that he has. But still… you shouldn't have goaded him like that or laughed at him. I thought you had more tact than that."

With that he walked away down the hall after his eyebrowless friend. Lyn couldn't remember a moment she had ever felt so embarrassed. The low feelings stuck with her for the rest of the train ride as she sat alone with her three other friends, her mood muted. Maybe she shouldn't have laughed so hard? Now it seemed oddly childish for her to have done so and rather tactless, as Lyssander said. The memory of it made her burn with humiliation.

She _hated _it when Lyssander was right.

There was only one way to set this all right and she knew it. But, if she could find a way around it, she would most certainly take it. The thought of apologizing to James made her stomach twist. Only that could take the creeping and dark feeling of shame from her mind. But she could think of about twenty other things she'd rather do than apologize to _him—_and that included walking on hot coals.

"Lyn, you okay?" Berkley asked, frowning in concern for her newly silent friend. Lyn shook off her stupor as best as she could and sighed.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she lied quickly. "Just thinking about home."

Berkley nodded, understanding in her eyes. Lorcan watched her, his usually carefree smile replaced with a slight frown.

She wished she hadn't said it because, the second that she did, her stomach flipped and she thought about her mother. Her mother would be so disappointed in her if she'd known how Lyn had laughed at James. The more she thought about it the more sick she became and the redder her cheeks got. Was she coming down with something? Had that smoke done something to make her feel ill?

Lyn couldn't kid herself for long. She was feeling guilty for being mean to James and there was only one way to set it right.

_Just got to get over your pride and do it, _she thought bitterly.

But swallowing her pride had never been an easy thing to do.

* * *

**A/n: **Well, I certainly hope that was worth the wait.

A quick thought of mine: I just went back through and reread some of my previous chapters. –wince- They weren't very… um… well, good. My writing style has changed a lot since the time I first started this story and is, very likely, going to keep changing as I grow and explore my capabilities. So I guess the question I have for you is do you think that I should go back and rewrite some of the previous chapters or just keep moving forward?

Thanks for your time; I look forward to your reviews!

Until next time…

Mischief Managed!

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	15. Mimbulus Mimbletonia

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

**A/n: **Chatter down at the bottom, but for now enjoy the update!

-UndeniablyMe ;)

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Mimbulus Mimbletonia**

James stalked down the corridor, head down and shoulders shaking, making his way to the back of the train. He went as fast as he could while his eyes were focused on the ground, maneuvering around other people who were leaning out of their compartments to talk to their friends or having public displays of affection, with relative ease. It would be Victoire's last year at Hogwarts, which meant that she was in the very last compartment on the train with all of her seventh year—and it might be added here, very _pretty_—friends.

He found the compartment after five minutes of dodging his way through troublemakers and prefects and let himself in, hand pressed to his forehead. Victoire looked away from her red headed friend who she'd been talking with and raised an eyebrow at him. James envied her ability to make her eyebrows do anything.

"What is it James?" she asked, looking slightly concerned. She interpreted his hand to his forehead as an, 'Oh shoot!' sort of moment as said, "Have you forgotten something at home?"

"No." He said through tight lips. "Can I see you out in the corridor please?"

Bemused, the pretty seventh year nodded and stood up, telling her friends she'd only be a moment. The three other girls in the compartment smiled at James and the one closest to the door winked. James's cheeks turned a dark scarlet and turned quickly on his heel, leaving the compartment.

"What's the matter?" Victoire asked the moment she had stepped out into the corridor with him. She shut the door gently behind her and leaned against it. James took a deep breath, hand still firmly pressed to his forehead.

"Promise you won't laugh!" he commanded, glaring accusingly up at his cousin. Victoire smiled easily down at him.

"I promise," she said sincerely and James nodded but didn't move. At her look of insistence he nodded again, bravely took one more deep breath before dropping his hand and revealing his eyebrow-less forehead. Victoire's lips twitched into the faintest ghost of a smile but, to her credit, she didn't laugh. "Oh James! What happened?!"

"Exploding snap," he said, irritably. His thoughts flashed back to the annoying frizzy haired girl in _his _compartment three cars or so ahead of them and the scowl on his face deepened. "I got left in the compartment when the tower blew."

"That was you guys?" Victoire asked, surprised. The look she gave him was now bordering on exasperated and impressed. "They said it was a couple of first years that had nearly beaten the record for—"

"The tallest exploding snap tower, yeah I know, I know," James said, his scowl ever deepening. He replaced the hand over his forehead as a door three compartments down flew open and two giggling fourth year girls went running down the corridor. Turning and looking ever-so slightly pathetic he said, "Just fix my eyebrows, would you? I don't want to go around looking like this."

Victoire's lips quivered into a ghost of a smile, but she complied and pulled out her wand, weighing it in her hand and debating what the best spell to use would be.

"Now, this might itch a bit," she cautioned, leaning forward and holding his head still with her hand firmly. Using her other hand she slapped the protective hand away he'd put over hsi forehead. "You can't move otherwise I might give you a unibrow or hair down the side of your cheek or something, understand?"

James nodded and Victoire whapped him sharply over the head with her wand. "I said don't move!"

"Sorry," he said, except that it came out more as a muffled, "Ah-ree!" as she pinched his chin to keep him from moving.

She started waving her wand then in tricky little motions, her own eyebrows pinched in concentration, all the while murmuring a little spell underneath her breath. Victoire hadn't been kidding either. The itching was horrendous, almost as if a thousand little ants were burrowing up from inside his forehead to the surface. He tried his best to stay still but couldn't help the way the bottom half of him twitched around, dying to itch.

"Don't touch!" Victoire said sharply, as his left hand came up to scratch at what felt like a very furry worm that was wiggling its way across his forehead. He shifted away from her and she pinched his chin harder. "James, what did I tell you?"

"I can't help it _woman _it itches!" he howled, jerking around the corridor. "When I get a hold of that girl I'm going to _strangle _her!!"

There was another pause as, with a flourish, Victoire finished the spell smiled victoriously. (James laughed at his stupid little pun. Victore had been victorious!) She let go of her cousin's head and James massaged his jaw while she looked down smugly at him. "A girl did this to you? I thought you said it was an exploding snap tower."

"It was," he said defensively, moodily folding his arms. At the expectant look on his cousin's face he sighed. "I guess I owe you a thank you, Victoire."

Victoire just rolled her eyes and stowed her want away inside her robes. "No, no, really it was no trouble at all. Your graditude astounds me."

James grinned wryly and fingered his new eyebrows. "We're almost at Hogwarts."

"Mmmm," Victoire said, flicking James in the nose. He gave her an affronted look and she merely grinned back easily at him. "Give Lyn Wolfe my best, won't you? I haven't seen her since that Quidditch game this summer."

James glared up at his older cousin.

"How did you know I was talking about _her_?" he demanded, looking like he was going to be violently sick. Victoire laughed.

"What other girl gives you such a run for you galleons?" she shot back, opening her compartment door. The laughter of the three other girls inside floated out to him like a whiff of some exotic perfume. "Be nice to her, won't you? She seems like a most delightful little girl."

"She's a minx," James snapped back, clenching his fists. "I'll be happy to be rid of her at school."

Victoire waved him away, assuring him that someday he'd come to his senses, before turning to her friends and saying in a conspiratorial whisper to her friends, "He's having girl problems."

James fled after that. If there was anything on the list _worse _than Elynxia Wolfe, which he was starting to think only included blast-ended skrewts and peace teas at their Uncle Dursley's house, it would be a compartment full of seventh year girls laughing at his problems with the opposite gender.

Not that he had any, he amended firmly inside his head. James Potter didn't have _any _problems with girl! I mean, who was he kidding? The girls _loved _him. In fact there wasn't a girl at school that he could think of that didn't like him, just Wolfe. And, privately, he was starting to think of her as more of a beast than an actual girl.

&

Every time the door to the compartment opened Lyn jumped, fully expected a very annoyed and very verbal James Potter to be staring down lividly at her. But out of the five times the compartment door actually opened, and the three times that she thought it had, none of them ended up being that insufferable Potter boy. Her imagination, fueled by her guilt, ran wild with possibilities of what he might have been doing at that moment and she pushed them away uselessly, angrily. So what if she had laughed at him? He would have laughed at her too, given the situation. It wasn't like she had done anything truly horrible or mean.

But try as she might, her words did nothing to soothe the ever growing nagging in the back of her mind. Why couldn't the idiot just walk in the compartment so that she could blurt out a quick, "Sorry!" and then get on with her life? Was that really just too much to ask?

But James didn't catch up with them until it came time to get off the train about an hour later. Lyn knew it had only been an hour, but suffering with her overly active conscience had made it seem quite a bit longer. When asked what they were doing James merely shrugged, but ccording to Lyssander they'd just been walking up and down the length of the train, saying hi to a few of James's cousins and whatnot. James's eyebrows were grown back and the sight of them made Lyn's stomach swell anew with guilt.

The guilt followed her out to the platform and she battled back against it angrily. There was no way she'd apologize to the idiot she told herself, even as her feet shuffled forward to where he was. She wouldn't say anything, even as she stood awkwardly in front of him. She wouldn't, she wouldn't, she… Oh Merlin. She might as well spit it out so she could just get _over _it.

Lyssander, who was standing next to James, seemed to understand what Lyn was doing and gave her a small smile before disappearing completely. That was fine by Lyn. She didn't want him around anyways while she was making an even bigger fool of herself. James looked around for his friend, saw Lyn instead, and glared.

"What do you want?" he demanded, folding his arms. Lyn sucked in a deep breath.

_Just do it, _she told herself. _Just… do it._

"I'm sorry," she finally mumbled, almost inaudibly. There was a pause and Lyn awkwardly looked down at her feet.

"'Scuse me?" he asked, raising a newly re-grown eyebrow at her. Lyn bit back a retort, sure that he was just asking so that he could hear her say it again, and repeated her apology.

"I'm sorry, alright?" she said huffily, folding her arms. It didn't sound very apologetic, but it was the best she could muster at a time like that. "I'm sorry I laughed at you when you came out of the compartment."

They stood in silence for a long time, both just looking at the other with looks of increasing dislike. But before James could think of any snide thing to say back she'd disappeared into the carriage. James frowned and looked at Lyssander, who'd just as quickly made his reappearance, questioningly.

"What was that about?" James asked, passing a finger ruefully over his eyebrow.

Lorcan shrugged unconcernedly, not having any clue nor part in what had just transpired, and instead focused on making his way in with the four other girls already in the carriage. Lyssander gave a small smile.

"She feels bad and apologized. You two must be growing up." And without another word he squished into the carriage as well.

James thought over that for a moment before following his friends. He didn't think much about Elynxia Wolfe, she was just the annoying girl in the back of his thoughts who every once in a while rained on his parade, and he'd only known her for a year. What did Lyssander mean they were growing up? She was still the annoying little brat she had been the year before. One summer didn't change that. The memory of the Quidditch game served as a reminder of it.

"C'mon James, hurry up!" Lorcan's impatient voice came from inside the carriage. "I'm starving!!"

James frowned at the carriage. Hadn't he been sure that the capacity for one of the thestral drawn carriage-things was around four or five? There could be no way that the twins, the twins' annoying cousin and said cousin's friends could all fit inside. What would that be—about seven? And, the founders as his witness, he was _not _sitting in any of their laps.

"But why must we do _everything _with them?" James asked to no one in particular, keeping his voice low.

"Hurry up!" came the annoyed voice that could only belong to that _harpy. _

James scoffed and glanced one last time at the front of the carriage where he imagined a thestral was watching him before cramming in with the rest of them. It was a tight fit, but they were all quite fortunate that they were all only twelve and not very large to begin with. It would have never worked if they had been any older or, as was the case with a few of the Slytherin boys in their year, any bigger.

The filled to the brim carriage jolted forward as the invisible thestral started off, jostling its passengers inside. There was a shriek of laughter as a particularly bad bump in the road was hit and Wren flew across the carriage, landing sprawled across Lyssander and James. The three other girls all bonked heads but managed to keep their seat, giggly and apologizing thickly to one another.

"Sorry!" Wren said breathlessly, pushing herself away from Lyssander's lap. "Nice catch though. Play Quidditch?"

Lyssander, who had _no idea _how to react when a twelve year old girl flies haphazardly into your lap, gave a weak little smile followed with a shrug. The entire carriage winced as their ride hit what must have been a very large rock or an extremely small bolder and the girls all switched seats midair, laughing. One bump later James vaulted out of his seat, hit his head on the roof, and crashed back down on top of Lorcan.

"Our driver, it would seem, has a sense of humor," Lyssander panted weakly, fingers clenched tightly around his own seat. The girls laughed while James rubbed his head and moaned in dramatic agony.

"Aw James, your butt is _huge_!" Lorcan complained, pushing James off of his lap and sending him to the ground. "I had enough room a few seconds ago and then you and your big butt had to go taking up all of this room…"

"Well, they don't write songs about small ones," the dazed boy answered, giving his head an experimental shake. "Merlin! Either your mum had more twins than she let on or I hit my head harder than I thought."

Even Lyn gave a begrudging smile at that comment and soon normal conversation was able to resume as their driver continued their bumpy little ride. There were only three bad spots hit after that—the last one ending Lyn and James on the floor of the carriage, limbs entangled and cheeks burning.

"Get off!" Lyn immediately shrieked, flailing around as if every part of her that touched James was being burned. James grunted as her knee buried itself deep into his stomach and Berkley jumped into the fray, breaking the two apart so as to save James any more damage.

It took about ten or fifteen minutes, but finally Scarlet was the first to see the castle.

"Look, there it is!" she exclaimed, and all seven of them pushed against the window on their left to get a look. Another bump was hit, sending the group of friends rocketing back into their seats, shrieking and yelling with laughter. (James and Lyn were careful to stay very much away from each other the rest of the ride.)

The castle was coming nearer and nearer in the window with every passing moment, the many turrets and lighted windows winking at their crammed carriage in the distance. Their laughter tapered off as each got their own view of the castle and shared grins with one another, fully anticipating a new year full of great things to come. All past concerns were washed away from them in an instant as the familiar sight of the castle came into view.

They were home.

&

Lyn would've liked to say that the welcoming feast was brilliant, that the decorations and the beautiful ceiling that reflected the night sky made her feel all tingly inside like it had the year before, but she couldn't. You see, Lyn never actually made it to the welcoming feast at all that year. She blames James Potter of course. Who else could somehow manage to get her in trouble for something that she didn't do?—and a detention to boot!

She learned an important lesson that night though. When James Potter _ever _starts a sentence with, "Watch this!!" one should turn and run as the twins did and not stop to actually look at what James Potter was doing. (Could she help that she was curious?) But how was she supposed to know that what he was doing involved throwing some horrible concoction of his at one of the teachers? And how might she have known that he would've placed the evidence, a small bottle of the rancid smelling stuff, right in her hands?

And, really, who could've predicted that the stinksap would have found its mark with Professor Furlough, the potions mistress, and quite an unpleasant woman at that? Apparently even the potions teacher didn't like to be hit with foul smelling things. Now how was an innocent boy like James Potter supposed to know that?

"Potter!" Professor Furlough bellowed across the hall, just in time to see James crouching, half-concealed, behind a very guilty and bewildered looking Lyn. "You—_girl_!"

It took a moment for Lyn to register that Professor Furlough was referring to her. She blused in embarrassment. So Lyn might not have been the most recognizable person on the face of the planet but, honestly, she'd thought the woman might have even taken the time to get to know her name.

"She doesn't know your name!" James snickered in her ear.

Lyn shot him a look that clearly told him to shove it, hands tightly clenched around the little bottle of what smelled like rancid manure. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her friends and cousins slink away, apologetic looks on their faces. She didn't blame them. Furlough looked angry enough to spit fire.

"Good evening Professor Furlough!" James said as the Potions Mistress came closer,, straightening up and looking completely unashamed to have been found crouching behind a girl. "And how are you this marvelous start of the school year?"

Professor Furlough, however, was not affected. She glared down at him, arms folded, and James smiled back angelically.

"I don't take kindly to rank things flying through the air at me, Mr. Potter," Professor Furlough said acidly. "Would you like to try and explain yourself?"

James smiled.

"Professor, it's just Mimbulus Mimbletonia stinksap!" James said with a quite convincing look of innocence. "It's not like it's poisonous or anything like that."

Professor Furlough looked anything but amused.

"I know what it is _Potter_," she snapped, pulling herself up to her full height that towered over the two twelve year olds. Around them the older students continued their way into the Great Hall, snickering and watching the entertainment that Professor Furlough provided. "What I want to know is _why _you and your little friend found it fit to _throw it at me_."

"P-professor, I didn't—" started Lyn, but one furious look from Professor Furlough choked the rest of her sentence in her throat. The familiar swooping sensation in her stomach started and the beginnings of tears were in her eyes.

"It slipped," James said with heartbreaking sincerity. It would have been believable had his shoulders not been shaking with laughter. "I carry it around to help me with my shyness and timidity."

And Lyn had to be impressed at the audacity in which James threw the lie out with. James Potter _timid_? She'd sooner be a flubberworm.

"My office," Furlough said, her lips tight. "_Now_. Your head of house will be informed and letters will be written home to your parents."

And that, Lyn thought sadly, was the end of it. She got detention on the first night _and_ missed the welcome back feast because she was being yelled at. If she'd _ever _had a reason to hate James Potter before it was nothing compared to how infuriatingly mad, and slightly amused, he made her now. Added to the fact that she now smelt like stink sap, Lyn wasn't feeling too happy. Or forgiving. How could he embarrass her like that? How could he get her in _trouble _like that?

Her anger was enough to sustain her through three hours of lines in silence, with the cause of all of her problems just across the desk, and silent tears falling down her cheeks. It was only when they were allowed to leave that she finally trusted her voice enough to speak.

"Why would you choose the most temperamental teacher in this castle to tick off the first night _here_?" she hissed at him as they walked back up to the Gryffindor Tower, rubbing at her itching and sore hands and trying to hide her tearstained cheeks. James just shrugged. "I don't think I will _ever _understand you Potter."

James's lips twisted into the barest hint of a smirk. "Right back at you Wolfe."

There was a brief silence in which both James and Lyn walked in silence. Lyn choked back her embarrassed tears and James watched her out of the corner of his eye, becoming increasingly uncomfortable. He always hated it when his little sister cried, but somehow seeing Lyn cry was a whole lot worse.

"Detention's not so bad," he tried to comfort her stiffly, shoving his hands in his pockets. Lyn didn't say a word but instead kept mopping up the tears that wouldn't stop. "And now you have a cool story to tell!"

Lyn didn't say anything, too embarrassed and upset to say or do anything but walk silently. He frowned.

"Professor Furlough's the devil," James said in an off handed attempt to cheer Lyn up, thoroughly unabashed by the fact that he had spent his first night back at Hogwarts writing lines. "How many times do you think we wrote _Professor Furlough smells like stinksap_?"

Lyn looked at him, slightly taken aback. The tears still glistened on her cheeks. "Those weren't the lines she assigned us. She told us to write _I must not throw stinksap at Professor Furlough_. The quills were enchanted and everything to make sure we did."

James shrugged that off. "Those charms on those quills are so old, as long as you include most of the right words and write really illegibly you can get away with pretty much anything."

And, quite surprisingly, Lyn laughed. It was tremulous, but James felt a little less guilty at that. "You mean to tell me that I spent three hours writing _I must not throw stinksap at Professor Furlough_ when I could have been writing _Professor Furlough smells like stinksap_?"

"Pretty much," James said, with an easy lope towards the Gryffindor Tower and to the fat lady.

"That hardly seems fair."

"And yet, I don't care," James said with a shrug, reverting back to the jerk it was so easy to be around her. Lyn looked slightly hurt, but the tears had stopped for the moment. "Could you walk any slower Wolfe? I want to get to the common room sometime before the morning."

Lyn gave him a half-hearted watery glare. "We don't know the password to the common room you know. How are we going to get in?"

"Don't worry about it."

"But—"

"I said don't worry it."

Lyn followed behind him, scowling and rubbing angrily at her cheeks. They arrived at the Fat Lady's portrait with no password and Lyn glared at James as the Fat Lady stared down at them, expecting a password that neither of them knew.

"You weren't much of a partner in crime," James continued carelessly, shrugging and fiddling around with some sort of spare parchment in his pocket. A troublesome little smirk worked its way across his face as he added, "But you sure are easy to blame things on."

Lyn's cheeks turned bright red. "Gee, thanks."

James's smirk grew bigger. "No problem Wolfe. Next time I need someone to blame, I'll come find you. _Mimbulus Mimbletonia._"

The Fat Lady's portrait swung forward to admit them, leaving Lyn confused at how James knew the password and marveling over the irony of it all. Lyn's heart jumped at that as, without further acknowledgment or another word, James turned and sauntered off into the common room. She scowled after him and wiped one more time at her cheeks to hide any hint of her tears. What. A. Prick. Mimbulus Mimbletonia _indeed_.

* * *

**A/n: **For those of you who may not know what in the heck a Mimbulus Mimbletonia do, apparently according to Harry Potter wiki it can be used as an antidote to shyness, timidity and nervousness. (Which are all things that Neville suffered from...) If that doesn't really do anything to help clear up the little joke for you, well, I don't know how to help you :)

And now, onto business.

100 REVIEWS!! Oh my goodness! *faints* I can't believe how wonderful you all are! Your continued support and comments are really what make me keep going with this story. I can't thank you all enough! A special shout out goes to **Amaterazu Setsuko** who was the 100th reviewer! Thank you so much!! I know I haven't had the chance to answer your review yet, but just know that it made me laugh.

Another special shout out to **Emily H. **who was something like my 96th reviewer. I enjoyed your review and it was pretty much what made me decide to buckle down and get this update to you all! It's people like you that make writing stuff like this possible.

I wish that I could tell each and every one of you just how much I appreciated the feedback but if I did that there'd be no room for the chapter! So take this update as a sign of my graditude and I'll update as soon as I can! But, for now, the real world calls. -sigh-

Until next time!

-UndeniablyMe ;)


	16. Secrets Best Kept

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Secrets Best Kept**

It was strange to think that when James, years later, went to look back on his time at Hogwarts some of the times he remembered least were the beginnings. Starts of the years were always hazy in his mind, a blur of color mixed with laughter and good food, and the years had started to run together. Was it his second year that Lorcan had thrown the pudding that had hit Professor Longbottom or was it fourth year? Had it been that year that he'd accidentally set that prefect's hat on fire? He couldn't remember.

You see, James never was good at remembering beginnings. He was more of a middle-end sort of person. Elynxia Wolfe, however, was very much a beginning sort of a person. It was_ fourth_ year that _James_ hit Professor Longbottom with a bunch of pudding, not Lorcan—though _that _story is for later on—and the year he set that prefects hat on fire was fifth year. And it wasn't an accident.

Besides, if James would have been thinking he would have known that they didn't even get to go to the start of year feast, on account they both had detention. But maybe, because that was hardly different from any other year, it had all become blurry in his mind.

Not that James Potter knew at all anyways, but second year was probably one of the hardest years for Lyn. And his start of term stunt hadn't helped at all. But it wasn't until after Lyn got back to the dorm that she realized she wasn't the _only _one who hadn't had a good night.

The welcome back feast Lyn was informed had been, in a word, awkward. Wren was still smarting over what Ilia had done to her the previous year, Ilia was still as cold and aloof as she had been when Lyn had met her in Diagon Alley, and Nastia still hadn't said a word. Lyn was starting to wonder if the girl had gotten in the way of some sort of spell that rendered her a mute.

"I was _trying _to be civil, and I said, 'Ilia, will you pass the marmalade?' and Ilia totally pretended that she hadn't heart me! She _completely _ignored me!" Wren furiously hissed to Lyn, as they brushed their teeth in the little adjoining bathroom to their dormitory. "And it wasn't until Scarlet practically shouted at her that she—"

Lyn elbowed Wren and shook her head deftly as Nastia Krum walked into the bathroom. The two previously talking girls shuffled along the counter to make room and fell silent. Nastia was something like Ilia's best friend and not even Wren was fool enough to talk about Ilia when Nastia was in the room.

"H-how was your summer Nastia?" Lyn asked shyly, turning to the quiet dark haired girl.

Nastia nodded. "Good."

Wren frowned exaggeratedly at Lyn, as if to say _see?_ and Lyn bit her lip.

The silence stretched between the two groups while Wren brushed her teeth moodily and Lyn brushed through her hair. Why were group dynamics so doggone hard?

Nastia finished brushing her teeth, turned, and walked out of the bathroom without so much as a backwards glance. Wren threw her toothbrush down and spit into the sink venomously.

"If I have to share a dorm with them for five more years I _swear _I'm going to go mental," she declared, glaring at her reflection in the mirror.

Lyn smiled weakly, but had nothing to say back.

Down in the common room, the scene of James Potter and the twins couldn't have been more different. Lyn remembers hearing his voice float up the staircase when the dormitory door was opened, loud and as arrogant as always, teasing and bossing as he talked to anyone who'd listen. The temperature with Ilia was cooling with every passing minute and Nastia hadn't said more than three words to all of them in the whole course of the evening.

First day back? Not as perfect as she might have been hoping.

There's always one thing about the beginnings of years that James Potter remembers, but it never has to do with the sorting feast or any of the new students. (Well… except maybe his brother Al or his little sister Lily. He remembers those moments vividly.) No, it usually had to do with the late night Marauder's party that they held every night after the welcome back feast. Lorcan and Lyssander had nicked so much food that, while Lyn might have gone to bed with only a few of those sandwiches that Furlough had provided during their detention, James ate like a king.

Sometimes life just isn't fair.

"So what's this heirloomthat you've come across, James?" Lorcan asked, conversationally. "The one you mentioned in your letters that you swore was going to make this year even better than last."

The three Marauders were piled onto James's bed, a small mountain of sweets from the trolley left over and parts of the feast laid out in front of them. James raised his eyebrow in a mischievous way and shot a look over his shoulder to where Randolph and Zane were sacked out on their beds, mouths open wide, snoring.

"If I show you this, you have to swear on your life that you'll never breathe a word to anyone," James said, looking at his friends seriously. "Some of the teachers wouldn't hesitate to confiscate it, and this is something that I refuse to let be taken away."

Lorcan and Lyssander immediately pricked up. If there was one thing they could appreciate, if not—in the case of Lyssander—tolerate, it was items that the teachers deemed enough of a threat to confiscate. James put up his hand, to forestall any of their questions, and reached into his trunk that was open by the side of his bed. The twins leaned forward, excited, and in one great tug the liquid material came spilling out and fell, flowingly, into their laps.

Lyssander and Lorcan's looks of awe was enough to make James swell with pride.

"This," he stated, proudly. "Is my father's invisibility cloak."

Lyn's hopes for the start of a good year were starting to pick up again. Wren had a huge stash of candy saved from on the train that they were all sharing, Berkley was French braiding her hair, and Scarlet… well, Scarlet wasn't in a good mood on account of it being late, but that was only to be expected. All three of her best friends were listening to her tale of what had happened in the entry hall and how her first detention had gone with James _Sirius _Potter.

"Remind me again why we say his whole name every time he's mentioned," Scarlet said, rolling her eyes, once Lyn's story was finished. She was lying on her bed in one of her moods, tossing a quaffle up and down in the air.

Lyn frowned at her, but Scarlet didn't see. "_Because, _he isn't _really _James Potter. James Potter is his _grand_father. And the great prat—"

"Be kind," Berkley prompted, tucking the last piece of her hair into an elastic band and giving a playful tug on the end.

"—loves to remind everyone that he was named after two of the biggest troublemakers that have ever walked the halls of Hogwarts. Besides, I can't just call him _James_. That's too friendly. And James Sirius just sounds like I'm his mother yelling at him."

Wren rolled her eyes at her friend and plopped another sweet into her mouth. "Then why not call him Potter?"

Lyn considered this.

"Potter…" she said, trying out the name on her lips before grinning. "It does have a certain ring to it, doesn't it? Like something you could shout angrily as if it were a swear word!"

"Elynxia," Berkley warned, sounding eerily like her mother. Lyn grinned.

"Yes Mum?" The group of four, including the tired and cranky Scarlet, laughed. The moment, unfortunately, was short lived.

The door banged open and a frigid looking Ilia stormed into the room, Nastia not far behind her. When she saw the four girls who she shared a dorm with, the coldness dissipated slightly. All four stared at her, and Lyn could have sworn that there was something that almost look like tear trails on her cheeks.

The silence that reigned afterwards was enough to make Lyn squirm. She hastily said hello to both Nastia and Ilia, but the silence that reigned soon after was long and awkward.

And, finally, after a near quarter of an hour of silence in which all the occupants of the dorm bustled around nervously, attending to their own needs before bedtime, Ilia spoke.

"We should have a circle of trust," she said, sitting tentatively on Lyn's bed. Lyn tried to give her a warm smile but it fizzled and died at Scarlet's dirty look.

"A circle of trust?" Wren said, eyebrows raising at the term.

"Yes, a circle of trust." Ilia pushed her long hair behind her shoulder and looked at Wren seriously. "Haven't you ever had one of those before, Zyer?"

Wren frowned at her. "No, I haven't. I imagine you'd have to have _trust _to do one though."

Ilia sighed and her wide eyes looked glassy. "Obviously."

"Then that cinches it," Scarlet said, pulling her huge Holy Head Harpies t-shirt over her head. "We can't have one here because no one trusts you."

Ilia looked hurt. Lyn quickly cut across Scarlet and Wren before they could say anything else, giving them both warning looks.

"What else do you do to have a circle of trust?" Lyn asked hurriedly. "Does it involve magic at all?"

Ilia shook her head, but looked a little more cheered at Lyn's efforts to be nice. "I suppose that a proper one, with older wizards and witches, would but not one at our age. It might… help us get along better."

Scarlet looked about ready make a comment, but this time Berkley cut across her. If there was anything that Berkley wanted it was more peace in their dormitory. Founders be helped, if she had to put up with yet another year of drama she might jump off the astronomy tower, and she was only in second year. One look at Lyn's face and Berkley was sure that Lyn agreed.

"I'm all for getting along better," she offered, looking pointedly at Wren and Scarlet. Wren shrugged and Scarlet merely glared.

"Come on Scar, Wren, just play," Lyn said, anxious that there finally be peace in the dormitory. One whole year of drama was just about as much as she ever wanted. "It'll be fun."

And so, the game started.

"We have to try it out. Tonight."

"I dunno Lor, we could get in a lot of trouble for being out first night back."

"You know that McGonagall is going soft and, besides, if anything they'll be more inclined to let us off on a warning seeing as it's our first night."

"Or they won't hesitate to give us the boot. You know, make an example of us."

"You worry too much, dear brother, do you realize that?"

"And you—"

"Seriously," James said loudly, waving the watery fabric before the twins and grimacing. "What part of invisible do you _not _understand? We won't get caught unless you decide to lecture us the entire time we're out and about, got it Howler?"

And that's how three second year students found themselves prowling around the castle late at night. James was fit to burst. Finally, _finally, _he was starting to live up to his name. The grin, smug and self-satisfied, looked like it'd been stuck on his face with a permanent sticking charm. There was something just so wonderful about moving around the castle, the only sound their light footfalls, basking in the freedom and adrenaline that ran through his system. It was almost as good as flying. Almost.

Not, of course, that the twins exactly shared his enthusiasm. Well, Lorcan did, but the other Scamander boy was feeling quite on edge. Trust his friends to get him to do something stupid, such as walking around the school at night in an invisibility cloak the first night back. But still, there was something to be said about being invisible.

The school at night was eerie, and made even more so by the impressive hollow sound that their footsteps made against the stone hallways. Being invisible was, apparently, something that one had to get used to. It was unsettling, but thrilling.

That was, until Lorcan tripped into a suit of armor.

"Okay, I'll go first," Ilia said, settling down onto the carpet. Scarlet and Wren perched on Lyn's bed, looking down warily, while Lyn settled herself somewhere in between all of them. Berkley was at her side, both of them trying not to show how uncomfortable they were. "I was born in Albania."

Lyn's eyebrows rose. "Albania? That's… random?"

Ilia shrugged and gave a half smile. "It's the best I could think up on such short notice."

Lyn nodded and Berkley jumped in. "I'm allergic to goat's milk. We found that out when I was five. I got these huge hives all over my arms and bloated up like a balloon. It was the most traumatic experience of my short life."

Lyn couldn't help but laugh, and even Wren's lips quirked into a smile.

"What are you going around drinking goat's milk for as a five year old?" Scarlet demanded, shuddering at the thought. Berkley shrugged.

"I was curious!"

The girls all laughed, and the facts mixed among the secrets started flowing like fine wine, each unknowingly trying to top the other with one of their own stories, until those stories quickly became little known facts and then those facts morphed into embarrassing, little-girl secrets. They were young, rash, and living in the moment, never thinking for a moment what sharing those things could ever mean.

"I punched a kid when I was eight because he called me a girl!"

"But Scarlet, you are a girl!"

"That's not the point now, is it?"

"I broke my neighbor's window with my dad's wand and blamed it on my little brother!"

"That's evil, MacMillan. I wouldn't have seen that coming from you."

"I stole a huge bag of tootsie pops this one time…"

"That's a lame secret Wren."

"I'm sorry. I haven't really been involved in any criminal activities punishable by law."

"My great Uncle Alfred was sent to Azkaban for jinxing toilets!"

"You don't get sent to Azkaban for jinxing toilets!"

"Tell _that _to my Uncle Alfred!"

Soon all were laughing, clutching at their stomachs with tears of mirth falling down their cheeks, hooting uncontrollably. It was a good thing the dorms were sound proof, otherwise older students would have been on them in a minute, chewing them out for making such a ruckus.

As the laughter died down and the girls slowly hiccupped themselves back into control, Nastia Krum finally added in a secret of her own, changing the course of secrets entirely.

"I have an older sister who was killed while flying on her broomstick at age five. I haven't been allowed near a broomstick since."

The silence that filled the dormitory after that was all encompassing, and suddenly Lyn's stomach hurt for more reasons than the laughter.

If James had thought that flying was good fun it had _nothing _to compare to the feeling of pure and abject terror that coursed through his veins now as he ran as fast as his legs would carry him away from the scene of the crime, the old caretaker's wheezing sounding behind him. And, in some sick and thrilling way, he liked it. There was something about the way the adrenaline pounded in him as his legs flew, as trusty as any broomstick, down corridors and through tapestries that he'd memorized over the summer from his father's map.

_Charms corridor. _Don't go left, three sharp turns right, sidestep through the tapestry of nuns praying—who's idea was _that_ anyways, putting a picture like that in the castle?—jump the trick stairs and third door, not second, on the left because the second isn't really a door.

"Slow… down…!" Lyssander panted from behind him, the cloak bunching up around his legs and making it hard to walk. "I… can't breathe!"

"Won't be able to… breathe when that caretaker… catches up with us!" Lorcan said, panting heavily.

James's own chest heaved, but his heart raced inside him like a snitch, and he smiled. It was for moments like these that he lived. Moments that made him feel _alive._

"James, where…?"

"No time for questions, Sander," James said, his voice hardly breaking as his system coursed with new found and uncontrollable energy. He ducked down another shortcut, somehow managing to jump them up three floors by way of a secret staircase. They were now only four floors away from the Gryffindor common room. "Just run mate."

And, breathless, three second year Gryffindors stumbled into the Gryffindor common room eight minutes later, sides aching and legs complaining. But James glowed with pride, because no matter what anyone else said _now, _he was truly a Marauder, a fully fledged trouble-maker the ones who went before him would be proud of.

He fell into the warm embrace of his blankets proudly, the sheen of sweat still visible on his forehead being worn like a crown.

Because _this _was only the beginning.

The circle of trust was quickly disbanded after Nastia's alarming contribution. The little-girl secrets—Wren's admission of thinking that Professor Longbottom was attractive, Berkley's secret that she had kissed Robbie Enwick behind the greenhouses on a dare, Scarlet's confession of lacing Professor Furlough's drink with extract of euphoria, and Lyn's over-due confirmation that she did indeed find James Sirius Potter attractive—all faded into the background. How had they all lived together for a year and had no idea that Nastia had a sister? It was inconceivable! None of them had ever thought to ask, never dreamed, that something like that was hiding in Nastia Krum.

All of the girls fell into a fitful slumber that night, each battling with the idea of mortality and pent up emotions that twelve year old girls were so afraid of and unaccustomed to. How are you supposed to comfort someone who had kept their hurt, their sorrow, buried so deep that you didn't even think about it until it was suddenly out in the open? How did you fight a demon you couldn't see, couldn't grasp, and couldn't feel?

_You don't, _Lyn finally thought firmly, closing her eyes tightly. _You don't fight it. You pray it goes away…_

And, with a shaky breath, she did just that. Maybe in the morning things would look better, lighter... Maybe in the morning she'd figure out a way to help Nastia. If, that was, Nastia needed or even allowed her to help.

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**A/n: **I'd apologize for the late update, but it seems like I'm always doing that, so what's one more time? I hope you liked the update this time around. I have about three pages of the next chapter done and know where it's going, it's just the matter of buckling down and actually writing it.

Reviews are, as always, appreciated! And if you're looking at this via a mobile phone you don't have an excuse not to review any longer—FF has gone mobile! :)

Until then, all…

UM ;)


	17. A Grain of Sand

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

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Chapter Sixteen: A Grain of Sand**

Lyn woke up late the next morning, her mind burning with questions and possible letters she could write to her mother. Melancholy thoughts about Nastia swirled around in the tumult of thoughts and she pushed them away quickly, trying to focus on other things; for instance, the scarlet hangings of her bed and the dust motes swirling in the morning sunlight filtering through the window. The scene was familiar, one that she had woken up to happily for nine months of the last year, and yet there was something strangely foreign about it.

The school felt so different this year around, but why exactly the twelve year-old girl couldn't figure out. Perhaps it was this feeling of being _older _that was what made everything so different. She wasn't a first year this go around. She was wiser, a _second _year. Merlin's beard, she was a second year! Yes, that had to be why the school felt so different. Lyn was practically experiencing everything through new eyes. She was older now, more mature. She could solve problems all by herself.

It was a pity then that the twins and their best friend, that prick of a boy Potter, still hadn't grown up. And, well if she was being honest, none of the other boys in her year at all if Scarlet's report of all the fart jokes at the welcome back feast was anything to go off of. No, the boys were all still the same and hadn't grown up. Not even marginally.

Still… James Sirius Potter had come to school looking incredibly… older? No, that was the wrong word. He'd done something with his hair. That was the difference. He was still James in essentials, every bit of him just as annoying and dancing on her last nerve.

And, it was apparent on her entry into the Great Hall for breakfast, that the coming year would not be any different.

"Morning Lor, Sander!" Lyn sang as happily as she could. James threw out his foot and Lyn tripped over it, her smile immediately turning to a frown as she glared daggers at him. "Potter."

"Wolfie," he answered. For a moment Lyn was stunned.

"W-wolfie?" she choked out. Even Lyssander and Lorcan stop inhaling their food to stare incredulously at their best friend. "Why for Merlin's sake would you _ever _call me that?"

James continued to butter his toast, not even offering her a shrug in response. The new approach, his being unconcerned and unruffled, made Lyn even more uneasy about James than she had been in the first place. The thought of the secret she'd told, with the girls in the dormitory late at night, suddenly reared its ugly head and she tried to clamp down on it as heavily as she could. What if Potter could read minds?

"Well are you going to stand there looking stupid all day or are you going to take a seat?" James asked when, after about a minute, Lyn was still staring at him.

Lyn scowled and took a seat next to Lyssander who graciously passed her the raspberry jam.

"Aren't you two sick of arguing yet?" Lyssander asked pointedly. Lorcan snickered but, wisely, didn't say anything.

Lyn's scowl turned into more of a pout and James shrugged, but both decided not to rise to the bait. James was simply too concerned with other things on his mind, namely the upcoming Quidditch tryouts, and Lyn was too tired to start a fight.

The four lapsed into silence with Lyn hurriedly trying to fill her stomach so she could be off to her first lesson. She had told Berkley, Scarlet and Wren to go ahead to class without her as soon as they were finished eating because she had gotten up so late but now, as it was looking like she would not only get to eat breakfast with her cousins and Potter but walk to class with them too, she was regretting it. Too much James Potter in too little time was stifling her so much that her stomach kept doing these weird flips, like she was on a broomstick and going to be sick. Curious.

But the thought of James wasn't what made her stomach sick now. No, the three Ravenclaw girls that were sashaying their way down the aisle between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables towards them were enough to set her stomach roiling angrily. And that was _before _she heard the high pitched giggling.

_If I _ever _giggle that high, _Lyn thought privately to herself, grimacing, _I'll kill myself. _

"Potter!" one of the giggly girls called out, her voice full of that horrible giggling and lifting last syllable to an almost squeak that hurt Lyn's ears. But James Potter's concentration wasn't to be broken so easily. He barely acknowledged the girls, but far from dissuading the girls it only seemed to encourage them.

"Potter, we heard that you beat the record for highest tower of exploding snap," one of the girls said, stopping just shy of the oblivious boy. Lyn narrowed her eyes.

"_We,_" she said, cutting across the girls. "And we didn't beat it, we _almost—"_

But Lyn might as well have been invisible.

"You were in the compartment when the tower blew, weren't you James?" Another one of the Ravenclaw fourth years fluttered her eyelashes and James quirked one of his newly re-grown eyebrows at her as if just realizing her presence.

"Yeah, I was," he said with a proud little nod, leaning back and eyeing the three older, pretty girls. Lyn scoffed into her pumpkin juice and James shot her the first annoyed look of the morning. Lyn gave a triumphant little smirk at that. She'd been worried she was losing her touch.

"It must have been terrifying," the last girl simpered. Lyn gave a disbelieving cough and Lyssander did his best to hide his own smirk in his toast.

"Uh… yes, very terrifying," James affirmed, shooting an evil glance at the cousin pair. Lyssander had the decency to look slightly apologetic, but Lyn just rolled her eyes. "Extremely, uh, frightening."

"Poor James," the first girl said, flicking some of her sleek hair over her shoulder and fluttering her eyelashes in what Lyn deemed was a very unnecessary way. "Well, if you need anything, anything at all, you'll be sure to let us know won't you? We'd love to be of help in any way possible."

James looked slightly punch drunk as the pretty girls gave him knowing smiles before turning and walking away. Lyn fumed in the background and glared at the pretty Ravenclaw girls' retreating backs.

"Er… yes, yes I will," he said, a few moments after the girls had left.

He blinked after them in an almost puppy dog way. Lyn huffed and went back to her food, frowning down at it. Lyssander raised an eyebrow at her but made no comment.

"This year," James said, leaning back and pulling a silly grin onto his face. "Is definitely looking up."

And Lyn, for some inexplicable reason, could only scowl in answer. Suddenly, walking alone to class seemed the better option than staying in close proximity to James Potter any longer.

"I'm going to class," she said peevishly, whipping her bag over her shoulder and disappearing a second later.

James watched her go and the grin slid slowly off his face. He stared intently at her back, eyes tracing her outline, but he wasn't really seeing her. He was remembering the time she had nearly knocked him off his broom and was thinking about Quidditch tryouts. If Lyn went to tryouts and pulled that move would she make the team?

James had to laugh at that. Elynxia Wolfe, make the Quidditch team? The thought was too funny to contemplate. But the thought did lead to more important things on his mind.

"Tryouts at the end of the week mates," James said, tipping back a large glass of pumpkin juice. The twins exchanged looks. "Are you ready?"

Lyssander turned a delicate pale color and Lorcan's smile slid off his face slightly. James read their expressions easily and felt his own stomach curl at the thought of them. What if he didn't make the team?

"How about we make a run down to the kitchens tomorrow night?" James suggested, trying to come off airily. "We can talk strategy and then sneak out to practice on the pitch at dawn."

"Yeah, that's how I want to spend my Saturday morning," Lorcan said, sighing and pushing around his food. "Up early, getting yelled at by James."

"We can't sneak out before dawn, we'll get caught!" Lyssander argued. "Do you know how many close calls we've had sneaking around at night? It's a bloody miracle that we haven't gotten caught already!"

"Chill, Sander," James said firmly, beckoning his two best mates closer. "Remember the cloak? It'll be a snap. And, besides, the cloak isn't the only thing the original Marauders had to assist them in their rule breaking. There's something else my dad has that will render us completely untouchable in our nighttime wanderings."

The twins looked interested, though Lyssander tried his best to wrestle his expression into a disapproving frown. He failed, as he always did, and the smirk on James's face grew more pronounced.

"Do tell…"

. . . .

If there was one thing about school that Lyn hadn't missed it was writing essays. Writing wasn't too hard for Lyn but when it came to discussing a topic for twelve and a half inches she found her mind very hard to focus. Who cared about Wendy the Weird or whoever it was and what she had done in wizard history? History was all about people who were dead. What could she learn from that?

And, besides that, her first day back had been a little less glamorous than she might have hoped. A double session of Potions on the first afternoon with that nasty Professor Furlough who only knew her as the girl who had been an accessory to James Potter's crime hadn't been her idea of an ideal day. Was it in the job description that the Potions teacher _had _to be an unpleasant person? Oh, and one couldn't forget about the life-altering lesson that Professor Binns had given. Was there someone who knew how to get rid of ghosts? She'd pay them to go after Professor Binns.

Lyn walked into the Great Hall for lunch, stewing. Berkley had left to library for some book that she had thought would help them in their History of Magic essay and she didn't know where Scarlet and Wren had gotten too. They'd both run off after their last lesson and Lyn hadn't seen them since.

And so, with no one standing next to her, she walked into the Great Hall and took a lonely chair at the end of the Gryffindor table. She grabbed a bowl full of stew and waited, eating slowly, for her friends. It seemed that not even Ilia or Nastia were down. She couldn't be that early to dinner could she?

"Lyn!"

Lyn jumped at the sound of her name and looked around the Great Hall for who had called her name. Scarlet and Wren made their way over to her, pushing people out of their way as they went. Scarlet looked ready to hit someone and Wren looked about ready to cry.

"Scar, Wren!" Lyn stood up from her seat and looked concerned. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? _What's wrong?_" Scarlet's fists were clenched and she glared at Lyn harshly. Lyn backed up a little from her blonde haired friend. "As if you don't know!"

Lyn stared at the two of them, alarmed. Scarlet's beautiful long hair was ruffled and sticking to everything and the awkward angle that her bangs were sticking up at indicated that the girl hadn't had time to fix them before rushing out the door. Wren's hair was in a loose ponytail and her eyes had a tired, watery look to them.

"I really don't," Lyn said, putting up her hands to try and calm them down. This only seemed to further anger Scarlet. "What—?"

"_You—"_she poked Lyn hard in the chest with her finger. "_and—your—stupid—circle—of—trust!"_

Lyn smacked Scarlet's hand away harshly, becoming angry herself. Scarlet's jabs, both vocal and physical, hadn't hurt but with every time she touched her Lyn felt her anger grow exponentially.

"What are you playing at?" she snapped, looking to Wren for an explanation. "What's going on here?"

"Ilia told all our secrets to everyone this morning at breakfast while _you _were asleep." Scarlet yelled accusingly.

Lyn felt like Scarlet had smacked her and her anger rose with every passing moment. "It wasn't just _my _circle of trust. I seem to remember _you _sharing your secrets just like everyone else. It's not my fault!"

"Oh sure _Elynxia,_" Scarlet said, spitting out Lyn's name as if it were an insult. It seemed that, if she could, the golden haired girl would be giving off steam. "It's not your fault; it's _never _your fault. Why would it be?"

Scarlet's sarcasm was biting. Lyn almost felt like crying.

"Well, why are you getting angry at me then?" Lyn snapped back, her own hands balling into fists. Her thoughts raced. Had Ilia spilled anything about Lyn's secrets? How would she ever face her own cousins if word got out about what she said about James? "Why aren't you yelling at Ilia? I didn't do anything!"

"You're the one who got us to play," Wren said, softly. Her eyes were rimmed with red and a tear was gathering at the corner of her eye. "Lyn, everyone's laughing at me."

And just like that, all the anger went out of Lyn as she stared at her friend. Wren's secret, of how she thought that Professor Longbottom was attractive would be mortifying to be shared, especially since they had the class tomorrow. And, judging by the way the crowds around them were whispering, it had reached the ears of those in their year in the hall. By breakfast tomorrow the news would be spread like wild fire.

"Wren, I…" But what could Lyn say that could possibly say that would make it better?

"Don't make excuses Lyn. They spilled all our secrets. Mine, Wren's, Berkley's. Everyone, but _yours_." Scarlet glared at her. Lyn could only stare back, wordlessly.

"I…" Lyn's eyes moved to Wren, who looked away from her the moment she made eye contact. "I didn't…"

"Whatever Lyn," Scarlet said. "We didn't actually come to hear you make excuses. We just wanted to let you know that we _won't _be talking to you. So don't talk to us."

She grabbed Wren around the wrist and they both turned and walked out, leaving Lyn standing in the Great Hall alone. Was it possible to feel smaller than a grain of sand?

Only moments later, Lorcan and Lyssander walked into the Great Hall to see their cousin running out, hands over her face. She knocked over James without an apology and went tearing up the stone steps. Lyssander looked at his twin, concerned.

"What's wrong with Lyn?" he asked. Lorcan shook his head.

"It's probably just 'her time.' She had enough presence of mind to push James, didn't she?" he asked, jerking his head over to where their friend was on the ground, yelling after Lyn. "She's fine."

Lyssander nodded, but didn't look completely convinced. But then again, what could he do? Girls were all just very strange.

In an upstairs bathroom far away from Gryffindor Tower and prying eyes, Lyn sank down to the floor. The tears stung her eyes as they fell onto her knees as she held onto herself tightly, trying to find some sort of comfort in herself. She was twelve and her world was falling apart.

Second year wasn't shaping up to be what she had thought it'd be.

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A/n: **I'm experimenting with new ways to do page breaks because the ones I'd previously used aren't showing up any longer. So bear with me while I try to find one that works. Also, I really dislike the formatter on this site. The thing is driving me crazy.

My apologies too goes out to those who reviewed my last chapter. I know I didn't get back to any of you but I promise I will. But until I can PM you or reply to your review, just know you have my thanks.

Well, that's all from me. You know the drill. Read and review!

UndeniablyMe ;)


	18. Letters from Home

**Forever and Ever… James**

A Story by UndeniablyMe

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**Chapter Seventeen: Letters from Home**

James was utterly rubbish at writing home regularly.

True, his family wrote him at least three times a week, but that didn't necessarily mean that he wrote them back every single time. His family was considered lucky if he wrote at least once a week, and even then the news he sent back was sparse. The only times that James ever wrote regularly was when he was under some sort of stress and in need of his parents' ever ready advice or he was trying to pacify them about some sort of news that one professor or another was sending back home about him.

And so, when he had written the night before back home, it hadn't been because James was overly concerned about tryouts. (Only a little—okay, a _lot_… Okay, so he was an absolute _mess_.) It was just that he needed to be… assured. Yeah, that was a good word for it.

But he shouldn't have been worried, even though the twisting sensation in his stomach told him that he was. James Sirius Potter had been flying longer than he had been walking. One of his very first experiences on a broomstick had been him strapped into a baby carrier on his father's chest while his father took him on the very first flight of his life. Not that James remembered it, but they had pictures of Harry and little baby James flying through the air with his mother on the ground shouting for them to be careful. It was one of Grandma Weasley's favorite pictures and she had it, proudly displayed, on her ever growing wall of friends, grandchildren, other family members, and loved ones.

James loved that wall in Grandma's Weasley's house. He focused on this thought as he trotted out of the Great Hall and to the large double doors of the Entrance Hall that were thrown wide open. His heart started pounding painfully in his chest. He quickly cast his thoughts around for something else to focus on.

"Don't worry James," Lyssander said comfortingly from his side. "You'll do great."

"You're a Potter," Lorcan reminded him from his other side. "They'll be crazy not to let you play."

The twins continued their steady stream of encouragements, but somehow they faded into the background of his erratically beating heart. He needed to focus on something else lest he pass out right there.

Pictures on the wall, people smiling, the warm smell of pancakes and maple syrup coming from the kitchen… A grin tugged at his lips as his hand clenched tightly over his broom.

If he closed his eyes and blocked out the early morning sun, he could see Grandma Weasley's wall in front of him now, cluttered with pictures and frames of all sizes of all different wizards and witches. Some grinned out at him like Uncle Fred, winking as if they had a secret they wanted to let him in on. Others looked at him with more reserved looks like the famous Marauder and werewolf, Remus Lupin, with his arm wrapped around his late wife Nymphadora. The wall was a tangled web of love, friendship and the ultimate sacrifices made to ensure that the world would be a better place.

_Your heritage, _Harry had told him, smiling sadly and tracing his fingers over a certain picture of a man with long, shaggy dark hair and a brilliant smile. Sirius Black, his father's godfather. _These are the people you come from, the people who died and live to make sure your life is as good as it can be. You can't ever forget them James. They are everything_. _Your friends, your family, are _everything.

His father's voice, even in the dim echo of his memories, made James Sirius stand a little taller as he thought back on them. He was a _Potter _for Godric's sake. And loyalty to the end, friendship to not only die but _live _for, was _everything_. They were in his blood, his very being.

Just like Quidditch.

It seemed ridiculous that James loved the sport so much, lived and breathed for it, but it was just as much a part of him as any of those people on Grandma Weasley's wall were. He was born to be on a broom, born to soar above the clouds, because it was in his blood. James Potter, his _grandfather, _had been born to be a chaser. His father was the youngest player to make the house team at Hogwarts in a century. The Potter legacy was littered with Quidditch players, _stars, _who had led their houses to victory over decades and generations. It was who he was; it was who he was supposed to be.

_Quidditch_ was in his blood, because he was a Potter. And because he was a Potter he would make the house team.

His hand tightened on his broom. It hadn't been an option his first year, as Teddy had tried to tell him after the current captain hadn't even allowed any first years onto the pitch to give it a go.

"But it's not fair Teddy!" he had shouted. Frustrated tears had welled in his eyes and he'd rubbed them away angrily. The last thing he had needed was to add tears to his already mounting embarrassment at being rejected from the team. "I can out fly any of those players out there. Why won't they let me try?"

Teddy had crouched down to his younger cousin's level, his shaggy black hair making him look, for all the world, like James's older brother. And, in a way, he was. He put his hands on James's shoulders and looked quite seriously at him through the dark raven locks, his eyes deadly serious in a way that James couldn't fathom.

"You're a first year James," he had answered softly. "I'm sorry, and it's truly _not _fair. You're an excellent player, an excellent flier, but you're just too small right now to play the position of chaser without getting seriously injured."

"That's rubbish!" James had shouted. "Absolute rubbish. My dad…" His hands rubbed furiously at his eyes, trying to push back the tears that threatened to fall. "My dad was on the team when he was a first year. They let him play! Why won't they let me?"

Teddy, who of course noticed the losing battle his little cousin was currently waging, brought James in for a hug. He held the shaking boy, who seemed so small in comparison to Teddy Lupin, and James threw his arms around his neck and pressed his face into his shoulder.

"Your dad was a seeker James," Teddy offered, by way of calming him down. "Seekers are meant to be small, fast and quick. You know that being a chaser is harder if you're small. Maybe in a few years or so, when you're bigger. You won't be eleven forever, James."

James knotted his fists in Teddy's robes furiously, the tears still coming angrily down his cheeks.

"I can do it," he repeated stubbornly, the venom in his voice muffled by the robes he was sobbing into. "They won't let me, but I _can _do it."

"I know James," Teddy had said, giving his cousin a tight squeeze. "I know."

The bitter sting of rejection still roiled in James's stomach now, almost a year later. He was a _Potter_. Denying him the chance to fly, to play the sport that was so much a part of him as it was his legacy, was a bigger insult then Captain Derek Worthington would ever know. But he'd show him, he'd prove him _wrong_.

And so the past summer had been filled with chaser drills and, with help from Teddy and his father, he'd honed his chaser skills. He may have been smaller than most twelve year olds, and James suspected that it was his father's fault if he couldn't lay the blame anywhere else, but he was certainly much more talented. He could fly just as well as his father if not better, as he liked to claim, and his already natural talent at chasing had been supplemented by one-on-one practices with Teddy who had gladly promised to make him into the best chaser the Potter family had ever seen.

_The best chaser… _James had never wanted to be a seeker and, quite frankly, he was rubbish at it anyways. Albus always had the flair for it, and even Lily, but none of them could match his chasing skills. He still remembered the day his father had taken him out on their brooms and they'd tossed around the quaffle, back and forth, for a few hours.

"You're a chaser, James," his father had told him at the end, ruffling his hair so that it stuck up funny at the back. Harry laughed at the petulant little look on James's face as he tried to smooth his hair back down. "Just like your mum and your grandfather. You'll make the Potters proud."

_You're a chaser. You'll make the Potters proud._

Perhaps Harry Potter didn't realize how much he put on his child, with just those few words, but it was a burden that James was glad to shoulder. He didn't mind being a Potter. He left it to Albus to worry about following _exactly _in his father's footsteps. He was more interested in the Marauders, the legendary James Potter who he was named after, and his best mate Sirius Black. His namesakes. All he wanted to do was make them proud.

But what if he _didn't _make the team? What if all that training, all those blistering hot days and cold rainy nights, spent practicing amounted to nothing?

What if… what if he didn't make the team because Jason Fletchly was chosen _over _him? Trading a Fletchly for a Potter? They'd have to be _mad. _But he couldn't let his usual arrogance in the subject comfort him like it had done so many times before. Jason Fletchly was not nearly as good of a flier as James was and he couldn't perform some of the moves that James could. But would his size betray him yet again?

_Don't think like that, _he tried to tell himself. _You're a Potter. Start acting like it._

But the dread in the pit of his stomach wouldn't give way. It stayed with him, heavily, all the way down to breakfast with Lorcan and Lyssander.

The last practice session he'd had with the twins earlier in the night, sneaking out three hours before dawn using his father's cloak, flashed in his mind and he clenched his fists. He'd made stupid mistakes and dropped the quaffle because his fingers had been numb, almost unfeeling. If he performed like that at try outs not only would he not make the team but he'd be a laughing stock. Control. He had to have _control_.

He was nervous, fit to burst. He just needed to get into the air. If he was in the air, it wouldn't hurt so much. He could leave all of his problems behind if he could just hold on for another hour. Just one more hour.

He closed his eyes, momentarily, before hitching his usual expression of careless disinterest onto his features. He could last one more hour. He would _make _himself last one more hour.

. . .

_Mum,_

_I want to come home. School isn't working out for me and I've decided I'm just not up to all this. You could home school me, just like we talked about when my first Hogwarts letter came. I think it would work out, and then we wouldn't have to live apart for nine months. It would be great. Things just aren't working out here. The lessons are boring, the boys are all idiots and friends are just being dumb. I want to come home. I'm serious._

_I'll wait for your letter. Please write soon._

_Love, Your Extremely Serious Daughter_

The letter had been sent on day four of the silent treatment from her friends, and it was now day seven. It was complete with an ink splotch that rendered the date incomprehensible. Lyn hadn't minded. Maybe then her mother would see how dead serious she was about coming home. She just wasn't cut out for life at the castle.

It felt a lot longer than a week since Wren and Scarlet had even bothered to look her way. Friday Scarlet had blown up at her and Lyn had spent all the rest of the afternoon locked in the bathroom sobbing. She hadn't been able to bring herself to miss the last lesson of the day, Transfiguration, and so had to suffer through that at the back of the classroom. Alone.

Apparently, no one had told Berkley what had happened and the girl had been confused, once again, at the drama that was cropping up between friends. Ilia had just sat in the corner, refusing to look at Lyn, but somehow Lyn had known it wasn't because she was _ashamed _at what she had done. No, part of Lyn was sure that the girl was actually gloating.

Lyn couldn't wait to learn how to hex people effectively. She had the first candidate lined right up. Maybe she'd hex Scarlet after.

Lyn felt immediately bad after thinking about that and sighed, putting her head down on her arms. Scarlet had been angry, anxious to vent her anger on the closest person possible. Lyn had just, unluckily, been that person.

The weekend that followed the Transfiguration lesson had been the loneliest she'd ever experienced. Even the twins' well intentioned, but badly executed, attempt to cheer her up hadn't gone exactly has planned. (The poor boys had to be given some points though, as they had tried. But somehow stealing her bra and dancing around the common room had nearly ended up with her in more tears than she had before.)

And so, she'd ended up in the library for most of her free time, buried up to her nose with books. Books on how to train your dragon—as if you'd ever _want _a dragon; books on how to cut your nose hairs—because that was a _problem _Lyn had; books on how to wax your eyebrows with magic—because she was really desperate enough to try _that_; books on how to make your hair curly—because Lyn really needed to figure out a way to give herself more bad hair days. But, like the many lonely girls who'd gone before her, books weren't a good substitute for real friends.

It seemed like the only person who was still on her side at all was Berkley, but even the kind hearted girl couldn't be there at all times. She couldn't blame Berkley for having a life, even if she herself didn't have one as of late.

Which brought Lyn back to the lonely breakfast table that she was eating at currently. She had gotten up early, which was a rarity for her on Saturday mornings, but the thought of waking up to an empty dormitory had hurt more than her lack of sleep. At least when she got up early she could pretend that her sleeping friends were _still _her friends. It was harder to pretend when they were awake.

_Don't think too hard, _Lyn told herself. _It's not that bad. Everything will work out._

Lyn reevaluated the past three days as she sat, lonely, with her little bowl of cooling porridge. The lessons leading up to Scarlet's explosion at her at lunch had seemed a little strained at the time, now that Lyn thought about it, but Scarlet hadn't seemed angry then. She must not have found out later then, right before lunch and taken her anger out on Lyn.

It wasn't fair. Lyn's blood boiled all over again at the injustice of it all. It wasn't as if _she _had told the entire school that Scarlet had put the essence of euphoria in Professor Furlough's drink. She had heard that Scarlet had gotten detention for it too. Double detention. Professor Furlough was not one that you crossed without a death wish, and Scarlet had _always _known that. If Scarlet had to be mad at anyone she should be mad at herself for telling such a stupid, incriminating secret.

When Scarlet had said _everyone's _secrets but Lyn she had actually meant everyone but Lyn, Ilia and Nastia. All those little-girl secrets shared in what they had believed utmost secrecy, and only three had been spared. Had Ilia ever even shared a secret of her own? Secrets. Oh Merlin, her _secret!_ Why hadn't Ilia told anyone _her _secret?

Ilia… the name made Lyn burn with anger all over again. Why had Ilia done that? They were supposed to be making _friends, _not stabbing people in the back. Why would _anyone _do that?

Lyn put her face in her hands, trying to calm herself down, but as she had done so often before she lost the battle with herself and the tears started welling in her eyes.

_Not here, _she told herself, standing up abruptly from the table.

She was fortunate that it was so early and that so few of her classmates would ever have thought to be up at such an hour. It gave her little comfort though to know that only a handful of people would be privy to her little girl tears. Who had she been kidding? Older, more mature… it all seemed like some stupid joke now. All summer she had been dying to go back to Hogwarts and couldn't _wait _to be back with her friends, but now, all she wanted now was to be home with her mother.

One week and a day. She had lasted a grand total of _one week and one day _back at school and she was ready to call it quits. Lyn didn't care anymore though. She was ready to be done.

Her hopes soared once again when, as she made her way out into the Entrance Hall, she saw a familiar tawny owl flying towards her. Her mother had written back! Maybe now she'd let her go home.

Lyn had never been a quitter before, and no matter how she looked at it, this was quitting. It didn't matter though. Not anymore.

. . .

The note that came the morning of Quidditch tryouts from home was very welcome. It was short, the beginning detailing what his mum and Lily and Albus had been up to in his absence, and wishes of good luck from the family. But the very end was what James had needed the most, and his father had known without James ever needing to tell him.

Harry Potter may have been the Chosen One, but he was more importantly James's dad. And James's dad just knew about things like nerves right before Quidditch tryouts, even if he'd never actually had to fly a try out in his life. The words in his father's hurried scrawl were comforting.

_I know that they're saying you're too small to make the team James, but I believe in you. You have the Potter and Weasley genes in you, which means that they can't stop you from playing even if they tried. You'll make us proud James. Good luck._

_ Love, Dad_

James closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _You'll make us proud. _

He folded the note and put it carefully in his shirt pocket, where it would rest safely under his robes while he flew in tryouts. It was next to the letter that Teddy had sent earlier, in his untidy hand, that told him to kick Jason Fletchly's—well, his mother didn't appreciate that language.

James's courage bolstered. How could he _not _succeed? It wasn't just him up in the air. It was the Potter legacy that he was carrying on. And he would make them proud.

. . .

Lyn was angry but, more importantly, she felt betrayed. The letter from her mother might as well have been a slap in the face. She crumpled the paper in her hand, chest heaving, and threw it across the empty classroom she had settled into.

_My Desperate Daughter,_

_ I'm glad you wrote. I'm sorry it's been such a bad week for you. Sometimes the first week back is really hard as you try to adjust. It sounds like you're having a hard time at school and I'm sorry I can't offer more help than a letter, but sometimes there are things that we can't help. Maybe it's better this way. Sometimes there are things that you just need to figure out on your own._

_ As much as I love you, and as much as I miss you, I can't let you come home. I'm sorry Elle, but I simply wouldn't be a good mother if I did. I think I remember telling you that going to school would be one of the hardest things you'll ever do in your life. Certainly, as you're coming to find out, it's the hardest thing you've ever done as yet. I love you and, because I love you, I'm not about to let you quit right at the beginning of your journey. There's so much more you'll learn and you're going to grow in ways that just might surprise you. You've never in your life, been a quitter my determined little one. Don't count yourself out just yet._

_ You can't be bored of your classes already. It's only been a few days. You've always been good at Astronomy and Charms. You got some of the highest marks for those subjects. Your other subjects will follow suit._

_ And those boys in your class, you must remember, are only twelve. They are going to be immature because at this age every boy is immature. You'll be hard pressed to find one who isn't, your dear cousins included. Just hold on, okay? It gets better, I promise._

_ You didn't mention too much about your friends, which worries me, because you're usually fit to burst with all of your information about them. They're not talking to you? Have you done something that would make them not want to talk to you? Is there something that you need to apologize for? If not Elle, I would tell you to simply give them some space. School gets lonely without friends, but if they are any true kind of friend—which I have a feeling they are—they'll come around._

_ You have a kind, loving heart, and I know that sometimes you feel more than others around you do. Some people will try to use your heart against you, to make you hurt, but don't let that bring you down. You can't understand everyone, where they've been or what they've seen. Sometimes people act the way they do for reasons that the eye can't see and it's easy to judge when you don't know._

_ Now, you're going to be cross with me for telling you that you can't come home, but in the years to come you'll see that it was only for your benefit. I love you my little Elle and think about you every day. Tell Scamps hello for me. Keep your chin up beautiful._

_ Your Ever Supportive Mother_

_ P.S. I'm serious too. Enjoy yourself and try not to worry too much. Write any time you feel like it, alright? I love you, and because I do, I'm going to make you stick this one out._

Stick it out? Her mother wanted her to _stick it out_? How utterly stupid.

Lyn was convinced. Her mother must not care enough to come and get her. She shut the letter in one of the many books she'd been reading and stomped off angrily to the grounds, hoping to find a semblance of calm outside by the lake. Maybe with a clearer head her mother's word would make more sense. _Stick it out_, she sneered to herself. _What would Mum know?_

But she couldn't shake off the niggling in the back of her mind that said, in a voice that sounded a lot like Ilia Reynolds, that even her _mother _didn't want her to come back home…

. . .

Cheery and bright, and completely misleading; a soft, emerald green pitch below and endless blue skies ahead. The warm, friendly feeling of the pitch was belied by the looks that he was getting from the many students already gathered for the Quidditch tryout for Gryffindor's team. Almost all of them were older than him. He, in fact, couldn't pick out any of his fellow year mates in any of the crowd. And none of the other students knew what to make of him, a _Potter, _just yet.

Justin Fletchly's face flashed in James's peripherals and he clutched his broom tighter.

"We'll go take a seat, Stag," Lyssander said quietly. Lorcan nodded in agreement.

"You'll be brilliant, mate," he said softly. "Show them what you got."

James nodded and allowed the twins to leave his side, not entirely sure that he was ready for this. He took a deep breath and pulled his shoulders back, traipsing up to the Quidditch captain with a confident gait that he didn't entirely feel, and stopped directly in front of the bulky boy.

"Worthington," he said easily. "I'm here to tryout for Chaser."

The bleach blonde-haired boy in front of him looked the scrawny boy from head to toe and barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. The boy had grown, admittedly, two inches since the previous year, but that still wouldn't be enough to compete with the bulkier boys around him.

Fine. If it took humiliating the boy on the pitch to get him to let go of this dream of playing one of the roughest positions on the pitch while he weighed no more than a bludger, Worthington would do it. Throwing around his surname would not get him on _this team_.

"Okay Potter," the captain said, looking at him thoroughly unimpressed. "Let's see what you got."

**

* * *

A/n: **I know I told you all in the review responses that I'd actually be updating yesterday (or the day before!) but unfortunately, getting sick somewhat put a hold to that plan. So, as much as I would have loved giving you an update on time, my body was telling me something different. Lovely, because I absolutely _adore _being doped up on cold meds.

Many of you have expressed the wish that updates would come closer to each other and I apologize profusely for the lack of consistent updating. I have the outline of the entire story (a rough one, but an outline none the less…) and write up to two chapters ahead of what I publish, it's the actual editing that takes me forever as I'm lazy and hate going back through my chapters.

So, I beg your forgiveness and patience as we slowly (but surely!) make our way through this story. I _will _finish it. It'll just take time…

Thanks to all my loyal reviewers! You all totally make my day. Until next update! (Which will be sooner.)

UndeniablyMe ;)


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